#Canada’s Drag Race review:

[nynewsbash]

Canada's Drag Race Season 4: Release Date, Cast, Plot, and Updates

Canada’s Drag Race Season 4! We know you enjoy Canadian Drag Racing, but it shouldn’t be a surprise considering the gorgeous cast and recent episodes. Hence, you may wonder if Canada’s drag racing is about to enter its fourth season. Otherwise, no matter how much it hurts, we will never see this program again. Canada’s Drag Race season 4 is a series that many people love, principally fans of the…

[tchaikovskym]

Canada's Drag Race review

Was on my recs since I obviously watch other drag races

Captivation: 6/10. I wasn't really captivated most of the time, but also it wasn't exactly boring.

Chemistry between hosts: 6/10. The hosts individually were okay, but overall I found myself missing Ru and Michelle way too often.

Set: 10/10. Pretty much identical to RuPaul's.

Humor: 8/10. There were still those painfully scripted jokes between hosts, and there were also varying levels of humor from contestants. However, I really found Brooke to be unhinged which goes hand in hand with humor. So kudos to that.

Challenges: 10/10. Pretty cool, most of it taken from RuPaul, but they also had some original ones and overall kept it pretty nice.

Contestants: 10/10. As I said about RuPaul's drag race: "All of them are funky little drag queens, from different backgrounds, with different stories, with different personalities and all loving drag."

Goal: 3/10. While Rupaul had an original goal in mind, this is just an extension of it. I am honestly not sure why Canada's drag race is a thing, except for expanding franchise and getting that sweet sweet profit.

Overall score: 7.6

If you really can't get enough of drag race this might be for you

[tempest07]

My reaction and review of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs The World Season 1 Episode 6 - Grand Finale.

We have our new winner!

What did you think?

[dirtanddistance]

Grandma's Marathon 2024 Race Recap: Sometimes, you PR. Other times, you're just trying to stay out of the ER.

A wise woman once told me "a marathon in 20 miles of hope and 6.2 miles of truth." At the 2024 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, I can confidently say I did not get a full 20 miles of hope, and certainly got more than 6.2 miles of truth.

The first question you might be asking yourself about this race report is, "What on Earth were you doing in Duluth, Minnesota? You live in Canada. Your brother who went with you lives in Florida. You are not trying to qualify for Boston. If you were trying to qualify for Boston you are a day trip away from any number of other net downhill qualifying races. Explain yourself." Dear reader, winding up spending a long weekend in Minnesota with my brother is the consequence of a pact that we made last year to run a destination race (a marathon - this detail will matter later) together every year now that we do not live near each other, and we both are very much into running far. We both compiled wish lists of sorts for marathons we thought would be great adventures to go on together, and after running the Vancouver Marathon together last year, it was my brother's turn to choose. I honestly do not know what exactly made him select Grandma's Marathon, but of course as it is a very well reviewed and beloved event in the marathon world, it made it onto his list. I did not check his math on this decision. We signed up when registration opened, virtual high fived at our brilliant decision, and carried on with our lives.

We were not fully aware of the logistics that would come for us in the ensuing months. As you might have noticed, there is no mention of 'booking flights' or 'reserving hotel rooms' in our initial description. And that would be because we did not do any of those things until about 2 months before the race. I can confidently tell you that everyone else on the internet is right when they tell you that you should be booking your hotel for Grandma's the day after the previous year's race. We were ready to book an RV 38 miles outside of town on AirBnb before I finally found a hotel room with a much more reasonable location and amenities. Holding my nose and paying for the hotel room aside, it was time to book flights. Duluth, Minnesota is conveniently located pretty much between Florida and British Columbia, which sounds like a good compromise for two people 3,000 miles apart seeking a destination to meet in. What this does not mention is the fact that flying into the Duluth airport is prohibitively expensive, and you will be flying into Minneapolis, renting a car, and driving two and a half hours to Duluth instead. Now, for two siblings who haven't caught up in a minute, this is not a massive imposition and allowed for a memorable side quest for tacky souvenirs at the Mall of America. However, it is a less charming feature when you have to get back to the airport for one sibling's 9am flight on Monday morning after the race. All of this to say, if you are considering Grandma's Marathon, do not overlook the logistical details.

Warnings out of the way, I rolled out of bed at 3am on a Thursday morning and dragged myself through YVR onto what was thankfully a direct flight to Minneapolis. After an unremarkable plane ride (as unremarkable as hurtling through the sky in a metal tube to a destination over a thousand miles away), I landed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and lumbered off the jetway to the sight of my little brother, clad in a matching pickleball jacket and shorts set with his Pit Viper sunglasses and a coffee in hand. We found our way to the car rental counter, where we discovered our first hurdle of the trip: some kind of crisis which resulted in us standing in a line for about an hour to pick up the rental car. This left us plenty of time to commiserate about air travel and snap a selfie for our ever-concerned mother. Car keys in hand, we rolled out to find some lunch at the famed Mall of America. Now, the Mall of America is the largest mall in the United States, maybe all of North America, I don't know. I find this claim a bit spurious because while it is a very big mall which contains an entire theme park and aquarium, a number of the retail stores are DUPLICATES. Which, fine, maybe you do need multiple Caribou Coffee locations in case fatigue strikes while you're several floors and a couple of wings separated from the coffee shop, but I will draw the line at multiple Bath and Body Works location in a single mall. This is the American Excess they warn you about. Anyway, we wandered the Nickelodeon Universe and wax nostalgic about the icons of our childhood before finding our way to the food court, the ultimate lunch destination for diametrically different dietary needs travel parties. I snagged the largest acai bowl I've ever seen (it was called 'yacht' size and while I don't think it could fit an entire Leonardo DiCaprio and whichever model he is currently dating, it was still a formidable opponent even for as hungry as I was) and waited up while my brother fetched a fried chicken sandwich meal from Popeye's, which he would later admit to regretting. We then proceeded to put in our first 10,000 steps in the land of 10,000 lakes by wandering every wing of every floor of the Mall of America in search of the perfect tacky treats to bring back to our loved ones and also so that we could say we'd walked the entire Mall of America and seen everything it had to offer. As someone who grew up in a state known for its endless theme park offerings and moved somewhere known for its endless natural amenities while also having tons of large and vibrant indoor shopping malls, I can't say that the Mall of America was for me, but if you ever happen to find yourself in the Twin Cities it was an interesting stop (and there is a food for every appetite in that food court).

Several hours, a stop at the oldest Target location, and numerous gossip topics later, we found ourselves at the hotel in Superior, Wisconsin. When the race materials suggested that the entire surrounding area was really invested in this event, I was not prepared for the random Holiday Inn we were staying at to be completely decked out for marathon weekend. Balloon banners, buckets of bananas and water bottles, little party favor bags in the rooms with more snacks and sunscreen and race-day instruction printouts. I have never been to an event where the city so thoroughly embraces the race weekend energy. We settled in before exhaustedly conceding that we did in fact have to eat dinner, and dragged ourselves to the Perkins across the street where we reminisced about our family's long abandoned ritual of weekly dinner at Perkin's after church on Sunday while I picked at a rather sad collection of side dishes (eating vegan in the Midwest isn't that hard. Eating vegan at Perkins on the other hand...).

Friday dawned and it was time to hit the race expo and check out a bit of downtown Duluth. The race expo had everything you'd expect... many booths hawking Gu and related products, headbands and shirts with cheesy slogans, booths touting methods to 'reset your nervous system' and 'refresh your blood'. After doing a maple syrup shot and drinking a few different flavors of Celcius, we grabbed our packets and were struck with immediate concern at the lack of t-shirts. As it turns out, Grandma's Marathon gatekeeps its finisher shirts and you will not be collecting one unless you cross that finish line yourself.

Friday evening brought the highly touted Michelena's All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner. I'm not certain I've ever seen so many people eating in one location, not even in a university dining hall. The quantities of pasta served were gargantuan. You are by default presented with two dinner rolls as your starting portion, with entire loaves of bread out on the table to follow up. Choccy milk and ice cream also abounded. For the low price of just under $20, there was truly no excuse for not being properly fueled for race day.

Speaking of no excuses, we arrive at race day (yes, I know, we're far into a race report for only just getting to the actual race now. Sorry not sorry). After being rudely awakened by two iPhone alarms perfectly in sync, we dragged ourselves through a semblance of a morning routine. Being so early, and being the more morning-oriented sibling of the two of us, I did succeed in convincing my brother to adorn himself with stick on face gems, as is my custom for races these days. He quite appropriately selected two teardrop shaped gems, "one for every marathon I've killed". Boys will be boys (wholesome) I suppose. We rolled up to the parking lot at the University of Wisconsin - Superior, and beheld the bus line to get to the starting line. This is another quirk of Grandma's Marathon - it is a point to point race, and you get to contemplate the full gravity of your decision to sign up for it on a half hour or so bus ride to the start line. I cannot imagine the logistics gymnastics required to get 9,000 people to the start lines via school buses, but after waiting in line for a bit in the misting rain as busload after busload ahead of us were ferried off, we got onto a bus and the journey truly began.

The starting line was a gauntlet of finish line drop bag collection trucks and porta potties, and a nervous huddled mass praying that the rain would continue to hold off on such a gray and dismal morning. We did our rounds of bathroom and stand-around-observing until it was time to surrender our jackets to the drop back trash cans to be reclaimed at the end of our Ordeal.

We shuffled into our packed corrals, and as the countdown proceeded and the gun went off, we trotted over the start line and down the highway. Now, I will say that the marathon course is quite pretty. You run along a two lane highway for miles and miles, sometimes getting a glimpse of the (angry and gray, on our race day) lake. It is a bit repetitive. You run along Superior for... well, basically the whole race. We were running along at a brisk clip, beating our pacing recommendations without much effort, chasing PRs (for us, sub 3:56:30). We made it to the half marathon point and continued along, but I quickly started to feel the pace catching up with me. By mile 15, I was starting to feel a bit dizzy and nauseous. My brother was doing ok, and he started to pull ahead. By Mile 17, we were officially separated out and my new goal was to stay out of the med tent and avoid an expensive trip to the emergency room. I was thirsty the entire time despite everything feeling sloshy and adhering religiously to my nutrition plan. My brain was simply not prepared for the reality of grinding out 26.2 miles as fast as I could manage on the road. I was quickly discovering that sandwiching a 'fast' road marathon between two trail ultras, without doing any speed workouts and avoiding road running to the greatest extent possible, was simply not something I had cracked this time around. I patted myself on the back metaphorically for coming to terms with my failure rather quickly and for deciding to grit my teeth and get to that finish line no matter how undignified I felt about it. This is where thing became surprising. Despite the pain, and the rain, and the fact that it was kinda cold (too cold to walk for the entire rest of the race for me), the entire race flew by. Even the miles I had to walk some of. I never was out there thinking, 'how much longer?! HOW WILL I ENDURE?!" It just... went by. It didn't matter that the course was kinda boring. It didn't matter that everything hurt and I didn't feel so good. I recalibrated my expectations, trucked along, enjoyed the silly signs and cheers of the spectators (they are just as enthusiastic after hours in the rain. Duluth has an A+ cheering section for sure). I paid attention to all of the makeshift aid stations with juice or beer or fruit. The sign that said "all toenails go to heaven". The fact that from what I could tell, the same spectators were moving from point to point, which is a feat of dedication in and of itself.

As I closed in on downtown Duluth in the final mile, the desire to just walk it in mounted. It was cold. It was rainy. I was over it. However, the spectators mercilessly encouraged anyone who dropped pace and I simply could not handle being yelled at to keep running, so I trudged along. Meters from the finish, the fellow next to me goes, "we're here! We did it!" in awe, and damn if I didn't kinda start crying because yeah, we are here, and we have done it. I have no idea what kind of journey it was for him (but from his tone I might guess it was his first marathon finish), and he had no idea that I too was feeling fairly awed by my ability to drag myself all the way to the finish line in spite of the many things that fell apart for me that morning. We both made it across the finish line, me with a new personal worst marathon time, and my new compatriot very dramatically dropped to his knees with his hands to the sky. I very quickly hobbled away at this point as that was not a narrative that I wished to be included in, and finally the pain and discontent had their chance to hit me full on. As I gimped along with my medal, a photographer flagged me to "Pose with your medal!". Which I totally did because no is not in my midwestern pedigreed vocabulary, but I quickly started crying seconds after that photo was taken. I was handed a mylar blanket (or 'heat sheet' as they called it) and continued my sad, damp, sniffly shuffle to find my brother. At this point I was aware of a new dire issue, which is that the empty Gu wrapper I had shoved in my side pocket under my phone felt as though it had chafed a hole through the side of my leg, and my only remaining consolation was that seeing as I had not passed my brother on the course, it was possible that he was having a slightly better day than me.

This hope was dashed as my eyes alighted on a sad red-headed boy sitting wrapped in a heat sheet under a tree. I hobbled over and also took a seat, at which point he says "I was going to go get my drop back but I can't get up". As the rain continued to fall, we looked forlornly at the lineups of people waiting to collect their drop bags. The competing desires of 'sit forever because wow my legs hurt' and 'I am going to freeze to death if I keep sitting here soaking wet with only a mylar blanket to my name' roiled in our heads until finally, the need to get dry and warmed up won out. While we did have to stand in line for a bit to finally reunite with our jackets and some dry clothes, I will say (full offense intended) that it was more organized than the Sun Run drop back pick up.

I will not go into graphic detail about peeling off clothes that are both sweat and rain soaked in a tent full of other sticky sweaty damp people, the floor blanketed in abandoned heat sheets. I was impressed to discover that while the wayward Gu packet that I was too polite to toss on the road did not bore a literal bleeding hole in my leg, I did have a chafe so bad that in subsequent hours and days it would scab over and make it difficult to sleep. Just when you think you've mastered your chafing prevention routine, nature finds a way.

The trial did not end with getting changed, however. Now that we were warm, dry, and in pain, it was time to hobble the quarter mile or so to the finish line bus stop. Finally checking our phones, we saw our mom's request for additional photos and snapped a very grumpy selfie on the way. Every foot step was a new nightmare as every few seconds one of us thought aloud, "are we there yet?" Finally we reached the buses; I will be the first to tell you that there is nothing more enjoyable than riding an un-air conditioned school bus packed full of sticky, sweaty, damp adults.

We finally made it back to the hotel in a torrent of vague discomfort and grumbling, cleaned up, and landed in the Nirvana that was the clean hotel beds with our respective Nintendo Switch/Steam Decks and snacks. When dinner time rolled around, we ventured back out (full of complaints) to a well reviewed Mexican restaurant. When I tell you this place was sketchy as hell to find, I am not exaggerating. We got lost on a 5 minute drive to the place. The windowless venue on the side of a larger warehouse type building was menacing and did not look like a promising place to find a post-marathon meal. However, upon opening the door, we were greeted by a delightful interior and more tortilla chips than either of us could safely house in our GI tracts. Sometimes, there are secrets to be found in the unlikeliest of places.

The remainder of the trip involves BOGO sourdough loaves, 'vacation coffee', and limping around Duluth the following day which was miraculously sunny. More important than any one thing we did on this trip, though, was the chance to just hang out together. We hadn't gotten to go on a sibling side quest that wasn't a funeral or funeral-adjacent in... well, a very long time. And while those tough experiences brought us together and shaped who we are, it's only in quiet moments of mundane togetherness that you truly get to enjoy who another person is.

In conclusion, our pilgrimage to Duluth taught me a few things.

Always check the full logistics before signing up for a race.

I have to do speed workouts if I want to run PR times. Lame.

We would've crushed a half marathon. Too bad we were signed up for a full marathon.

You should consider cherishing and curating your personal worst performances with as much love and care as your personal best performances.

Just because you hit a physical wall does not mean you need to build a mental wall to match, and your ability to scale your mental walls directly correlates to how you will navigate your physical walls.

The refried beans you eat after a marathon are the best refried beans you will ever experience in your life.

Consider travel insurance if you want to embody the PR-or-ER ethos.

Having a buddy, whether or not you run together, can very easily help you find a 'why' on a tough run. And that 'why' can be 'I need to not keep my brother waiting so long that he loses any remaining respect for me so no more walking'.

Road or trail, rain or shine, PR or ER, there's always more to learn about yourself and others out there.

[eternal-learner]

October 2024

Book

👻 Bear by Marian Engel

Movies

🦇 Salem's Lot (2024) 🦇 Scary Movie (2000) 🦇 Evil Dead Rise (2023) 🦇 Brain Damage (1988) 🦇 The Relic (1997) 🦇 Evil Dead (2013) 🦇 Basket Case (1982) 🦇 Chasing Cain (2001) 🦇 The Substance (2024) 🦇 Smile (2002)

Other

Design Your Career with a Whiteboard

Human Behavioral Biology 4. Molecular Genetics I / 5. Molecular Genetics II / 6. Behavioral Genetics

Podcasts

🎃 Anatomy and Physiology - Bit by Bit 1. Body Organization / 2. Homeostasis / 3. Cells and the Plasma Membrane

🎃 And Colossally That's History! Imola '94: F1's blackest weekend (Part 1, 2, 3)

🎃 Aria Code Puccini's Madama Butterfly: When My Ship Comes In

🎃 Articles of Interest Clergy

🎃 Automotive Repair Tips Automotive Brake Systems, Lines and Components Explained

🎃 Bean to Bar World Melanie with 20Nord20Sud of France

🎃 Canada: A Yearly Journey 1894 / 1895 / 1896 / 1897 / 1898 / 1899 / 1900

🎃 Canadian History Ehx One Long Terrible Journey: The March West / Bringing the Bard to Life: The Stratford Festival / Canada's Titanic: The Empress of Ireland / When Germans Invaded Winnipeg: If Day / The SS Viking Disaster / The Story and Tragedy of Henry Hudson / Exploring the Christmas Stories and Traditions of Canada / The History Behind 24 Sussex Drive

🎃 The Chess Angle 123. The Most Confusing Chess Concepts for Developing Players / 127. Chess Study Plans & Formulas

🎃 Completely Arbortrary The Phantom Fir (Douglas-fir) / Squirrel Talk (Oregon White Oak) / Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Tree (Arborvitae)

🎃 Draftsmen Karl Kopinski on Discipline, Sketching, and Making it as a Freelance Illustrator / Creativity Insights Artists can Pull from Writers / Developing an Illustration / Reinventing Yourself / How to Study Masters

🎃 The Evolution of Horror What is Horror? / Slashers Pt 1: An Introduction / Slashers Pt. 2: Psycho & Peeping Tom (1960)

🎃 F1 Explains Guenther Steiner on his hardest decision / Bernie Collins + Ruth Buscombe on strategy secrets / Liam Lawson answers your questions / Inside the safety car / How F1 helmets are made / Mika Hakkinen on high-speed tracks / Meet the mechanics in an F1 garage / Damon Hill on F1 title fights / How Formula 1 plans its races / Coaching F1 drivers / DRS: how the Drag Reduction System has changed F1 racing / What we learned in 2023 / Overtaking, breaking, and qualifying / Mick Schumacher + Bernie Collins explain the F1 race start / F1 race suits, boots + gloves: what F1 drivers wear / Pedro de la Rosa explains F1 car set-up / Downforce + why F1 cars have wings

🎃 Formula Once Upon A Time Senna, the Hills and Monaco / "Niki was the first real professional driver" - Daniel Audetto / Lauda "You're gonna have to shoot me down." / Show me the Money - what people get paid in F1 / The $10m Handshake

🎃 How To Chess 1. GM Eugene Perelshteyn on How to Limit Blunders / 2. How to Choose an Opening / 3. How to Get Past a Rating Plateau / 5. The Right Way to Read Chess Books / 7. How to Choose Your Opening Repertoire / 9. How to Review Grandmaster Games / 12. How to Improve Your Chess Away From the Board / 15. How to Choose a Chess Coach / NM Han Schut on Getting to the Root of Your Chess Mistakes / GM Sahaj Grover - How to Approach Studying the Endgame / GM Johan Hellsten - How to Analyze Your Own Chess Games / NM Bryan Tillis - How to Remember Opening Sequences / IM Alex Astaneh on How His Coach Accidentally Taught Him Board Visualization

🎃 Learn to Paint Dean Mitchell

🎃 The Listening Service What's the point of Listening? / Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto / Transcendence / Chasing a Fugue / How do you describe a teaspoon in music? / How Do You Make a National Anthem?

🎃 The Nations of Canada The Basques / An Alchemist Matter / Mystery on the St. Lawrence / False Starts

🎃 Psychoanalysis: A Horror Therapy Podcast Sibling Rivalry: Basket Case (1982)

🎃 The Race F1 Tech Show The pros and cons of Renault ending its F1 engine programme / Lifting the lid on F1 helmet technology / Unpicking the strengths and weaknesses of F1's "Big 4" teams / The secrets of F1 simulators / Secrets of F1 suspension

🎃 The Science of Birds Bird Songs - Part 2 / Vision in Birds / Hummingbirds / The Biggest Global Threats to Birds

🎃 Shop Talk Live - Fine Woodworking 318 - Back to School / 324 - Bridging creativity and technicality

🎃 Song Exploder Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over / New Order - Blue Monday / MUNA - What I Want / Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out / AURORA - Runaway

🎃 Stella Culinary School Flavor Structure Part 1 and 2 / S is for Sauce Part 1 and 2

🎃 The Tucker Carlson Show JD Vance: The Immigration Crisis, How Polls Are Used to Fool You, and the Left's Plan to Stop Trump

[fununtitled]

RPDR CAN vs World 2 - Sour and Zesty makes this season very Unique - FunUntitled Review

Aloha Drag Racers! We review Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs The World 2! It was an amazing season with unique challenges and strong contestants. Drama was real intense and comedy had us in stitches. Hear our thoughts on this week's episode.

You can use our Linktree to choose which site you'd like to listen to our newest Podcast episode such as Spotify and YouTube!

[rpmtrish]

RPM Magazine December 2023 Issue

RPM Magazine Releases the December 2023 Issue.  Check out the teaser copy here and subscribe now to make sure you take advantage of our Black Friday Sale on until December 1st. FEATURE CAR - DYNAMIC DUO - This mid 7-second Hellcat is a Wild Ride! Growing up in southeast Texas, Colby Davis loved fast cars and racing and couldn’t wait to get his own car. With limited resources, he cut grass and saved $400, just enough to cover half of the 1972 V8 equipped Comet GT he wanted, and his parents kicked in the other $400. TAKIN' IT TO THE STREET - This Nitrous'd LS Stang Street Car Hurts Feelings! Born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, cars have been a part of Jordan Manning's life as long as he can recall. Growing up, he watched fast cars in his community knowing he’d be behind the wheel of on someday, and by the time he was 17 he started street racing and never looked back. GEN 1 AND THEN SOME - Raced, Prepped and Street Driven, This Camaro is a show stopper too! Tony Scott Jr. started drag racing in high school using his mom's car, and she didn't know about it! He was busted when, after a night at the dragstrip, his mom came out to find white numbers on her car. Apparently Tony forgot to erase them before he came home and went to bed...whoops! EVENTS CANADIAN DRAG RACING HALL OF FAME 2023 INDUCTION CEREMONY - John Scotti's Lamborghini Montreal Dealership was the venue for this prestigious event. Yes, there is actually a dedicated Drag Race Hall of Fame in Canada. As a registered non-profit organization, the Canadian Drag Race Hall of Fame’s mission is to recognize the extraordinary achievements and contributions of Canadians to the sport of drag racing. 2023 YEAR IN REVIEW We take a look back at a stellar year! The clock is winding down on another great year at RPM Magazine, so it's fitting to take a look back at some of the exceptional builds we presented each month. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued readership over the past quarter century. And if you think 2023 was impressive, wait until you see what we have in store for you in the coming year...OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY! Read the full article

[rosenallies]

Canadian queens and CDR is not given enough praise. But that’s mostly because they aren’t promoted as heavily.

But that’s not really an unpopular opinion, my personal opinion is that they aren’t promoted as heavily because it’s an English speaking franchise not hosted by Ru. And it can never be hosted by Ru due to Canadian broadcasting laws, just like Drag Race UK can never have prize money due to laws. I wouldn’t say that the non-English speaking franchises like France or Espania get as much promotion in the US but they still get insane views in their respective territories and then people who love Drag Race buy Wow presents and watch them too. So it’s a win-win for them. Drag Race UK is promoted, in opinion, almost as much as an all stars season. Baring vstw but that whole thing is stupid to me, like I know why they’re doing it, it just doesn’t seem fair to the queens. But anyway, Canada doesn’t get that shit at all. Except for season 1, they don’t get a pit stop, fashion photo review or anything else that could hype people up to watch and engage with the season. And it’s really unfortunate because some of my favorite queens are from CDR and seeing them not get their props is so crazy

Yes I agree! What are the broadcasting laws? Are they not able to employ someone who isn’t a legal resident of Canada?? Not that I want Ru as a judge on there bc ..,well <3 but I would still love to see more promo for the Canadian queens bc same, some of my favorite queens have come from Canada and I wish they got more attention, even the more popular ones don’t get the same attention that popular UK and US queens get :/

[officialindiedotcom]

Having seen Tynomi Banks on Season 1 of Canada's Drag Race I knew that she was an amazing performer. It would be easy for those who only know her from Drag Race to think of her as only being a Canadian Queen, but that is really underselling her. Tynomi has been mastering her craft as an artist for over 11 years making multiple film and television appearances and has truly established herself as a world-class queen. When I saw that she was going to be the opening act for LIGHTS I was excited to see what she was going to bring to the stage. I must say, she did not disappoint. Her 30 minute performance was a combination of energy and wit. While there was no doubt that she has incredible dance moves and that alone would be enough to hype up any crowd, I was not expecting... See the full review and photo gallery on our website: OfficialIndie.Com Copyright. "Commercial and derivative usage prohibited". 2023-02-13 #alternativemusic #indie #indiepop #indierock #indiemusic #indiesinger #TynomiBanks #DragRace #LondonMusicHall #lgbtqpride #London #LBTQ #Queens #DragQueen #LGBT #concertphotography #musicphotographer #musicphotograhy #rockphotography #rockphoto #indiephotography #rockandroll #rockmusic #music #guitarist #punk #guitar #rock #ontour #concert https://www.instagram.com/p/CotqfSWOJqP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[preternatura-aa]

Canada’s Drag Race: Canada VS The World Review

This post has spoilers for Canada VS The World and CAST spoilers for Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8, also take this as a general spoiler warning for the franchise as a whole.

So I’ve been working on a huge Rupaul’s Drag Race review project where I review episodes based on specific criteria and I figured I’d post my ratings of the most recently finished season as well as share some of my thoughts on the vs the world series and the eventually the wider franchise. I’d like to use this review to introduce and demonstrate the rate system as well as provide some cool write-ups.

I rate each episode in four categories, 1-5 for each. These are the basic categories I believe make a good episode of Drag Race:

Funny - Self explanatory

Fashion - I consider only official runways, seeing as challenge outfits are usually supposed to be silly and it’s hard to judge the two things at once

Fun - I usually consider the actual structure of the episode in terms of production for this, are the challenges interesting, was the runway category a good idea how did the contestants act on the episode in response to these things, etc

Fierce - Rated based on emotional resonance. This can mean storylines, lip-syncs, drama, narrative/production decisions, other contestant behavior. Kind of an “X-Factor” category.

My Canada VS The World Rate Table

I found Canada VS The World to be pretty disappointing overall. Only 2 seasons into the VS The World franchise, WOW has announced Rupaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars. Based on that info, it seems to me like VS The World is over. It was an interesting experiment but it may be too tall an order to continue to fill. It must be borderline impossible coordinating different production studios in different countries and contestants allegedly straight up refusing to be on non-RuPaul hosted seasons. Then again, who knows.

I won’t lie, I was excited for Canada VS The World. After the glorious dumpster-fire of UK VS The World I was genuinely interested in how the contestants would react to the season ruiningly cut throat gameplay of the franchise’s first entry. Unfortunately- they reacted in the most boring way imaginable.

All in all, both production and cast decided this season needed to be insanely positive. To be fair, this may have been the safest decision with the way the season played out. Storylines and werk room chatter usually center around somewhat surface-level discussions of mental health and social justice topics. Do not get me wrong, I’m not some kind of edge-lord idiot that can’t handle those kinds of themes- the thing is, there was just very little else going on. The issue is that it was often the only thing anyone was interested in talking about.

Here’s the thing- reality television is hard to make. I’m not saying the contestants should have had stupid fights and fought each other all the time or that production should have caused conflict. I just think there weren’t many interesting narratives present at all until the end. There’s an element of this that is kind of just random. A lack of interesting narrative in the real world during filming just happens sometimes and that’s fine, but it doesn’t mean the season is going to be interesting to watch. It’s a lot of people talking about their “truth” and their “journeys” (Icesis specifically did this a lot). Maybe this is just a me thing but over-reliance on pop-health/wellness language like this usually annoys and bores me. Especially when it’s in service of branding and marketing.

Arguably the most satisfying and interesting narrative through-line was Silky Nutmeg Ganache’s story of overcoming her fan-perception from her two previous Drag Race seasons. It’s interesting to hear the contestants talk about the consequences of their appearances on reality TV and I felt like it was a responsible and surprising production decision to focus on it so heavily. Then again- if the best part of a season is based on other seasons... that may not be the best sign. Combined with her clearly improved runway presentations, it was all the more anticlimactic when she did better in the final lip-sync (imo) and still didn’t win the whole thing. I guess production thought Ra’jah D O’Hara was a safer bet. Silky was the star of CVTW for me.

Silky Nutmeg Ganache for the Queen of The World Category

Canada VS The World revealed some innate problems with the VS The World format (originally created for Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2). The Lip Sync For Your Legacy format basically forces the cast to play nice with each other every single week- or face the wrath of both their fellow cast and online fandom. This format can create some pretty insane television moments (see Manila Luzon’s All Stars 4 elimination, Pangina Heals and Jimbo’s UKVTW eliminations, etc). I think the shorter episode counts of VS The World are why it’s not working as well and why the queens of CTVW seemingly refused to play dirty or to play interesting. 10 episodes gives much more breathing room for relationships and conflicts to develop over time, 6 episode season are simply too over and done with for anything that interesting to happen without throwing off the seasons. 

UK VS The World’s shockingly competitive gameplay early on ruined the season in the long-run since the finalists who did really well for the first half of the seasons were almost all eliminated, spelling disaster for viewers as the finalists weren’t very many contestants who had actually excelled at the competition. CANVTW has the opposite problem, nobody wanted to repeat the previous season’s mistakes and therefore there’s zero strategy or drama in the eliminations. Basically what I’m saying is this format doesn’t work in these micro-seasons.

Another issue that makes this even worse is Icesis Couture’s self elimination. It felt tonally strange threw the season w a y off as well as eliminated one of the few frontrunners, leaving only a couple contestants who had done very well to be finalists. I’m absolutely not invalidating Icesis’ decision to quit, I think it’s cool as fuck of her, but the season was just so much less competitive after she left- and likely pushed Rita Baga into the top as the Canadian finalist. This effected the my rate of the season pretty negatively overall as I don’t enjoy Rita Baga’s humor or runway presentations. 

Rita Baga for the Y2GAY Category

It’s clear to me that there was kind of an unspoken agreement among all the contestants to play the game basically the same way, leading to very few interpersonal conflicts and very little tension as a viewer- the elimination decision each episode was unanimous for god sake (for the first time in Drag Race h e r s t o r y). It just wasn’t engaging and it was hard to care at all in early episodes since the gap between who was performing well and who wasn’t was so wide. 

The scrappy fun of the previous the seasons of Canada’s Drag Race felt present for sure, but it was severely missing the teeth that makes reality TV interesting to watch. Boring storylines, over-reliance on sappy werk-room segments, confusing judging decisions and overdone challenges made 4/6 episodes of this season receive below average (below 3) scores. Thankfully the finale episode was a lot of fun and somewhat satisfying despite the absolutely detestable finale format of Lip Sync For The Crown- but I’ll write about that in another post. It was full of nice moments and fun production decisions as well as contestant performances. I loved Monet X Change showing up, I loved Victoria proposing to her girlfriend, I liked when the rest of the cast came back, and I loved the final lip sync.

On the winner: Ra’jah O’hara is the first multinational triple-season complete winner arc, which is unprecedented so far on Drag Race, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of these in the future. Ra’jah was my pre-season pick, but I felt her All Stars 6 showing was more deserving of a crown- and I don’t like wins that feel honorary or based on extra-textual context. They are lame.

Ra’Jah D Ohara for the Plaid Girls Club Category

I feel like I’ve been harsh, so here are some

Things I liked:

- Victoria Scone was great on this season and I’m glad we got to see a lot of her even if I don’t always like her sense of humor.

- The cast was one of the most diverse ever, which is very cool. It’s important for the art form and for the show to showcase as wide an array of points of views and aesthetics as possible, there’s still a long way to go though obviously though.

- The finale episode

- Silky, Ra’jah, and Icesis on the runway

Final Stats:

The lowest possible score is 1, the highest is 5. These averages are calculated from each of my rates in each respective category in each episode.

Funny: 2.5

Fashion:  3.166666667

Fun:  2.333333333

Fierce:  2.833333333

Overall Score:  2.708333333 on a scale of 1 to 5

Afterword:

Those acting challenges are still SO HORRIBLE I don’t even know how they could fix them at this point. It’s just kind of an inherently bad structure for a challenge I think. Also the humor of the US judges is bad but I’m not sure it reaches the soulless phoning in of the Canadian drag race judges. Part of my idea for rebooting the show includes abandoning those stupid fucking runway comments the judges are always making. Genuinely makes the show hard to even watch sometimes. I’ve heard some people watch this on mute.

I don’t think Canada VS The World was very good overall but I guess I’m happy Ra’jah finally has a crown.

[studentmyself]

Canadas Drag Race - GIF Review Season 2 Episode

The episode starts off and I’m pretty sure Pythia is winning or going home. That’s usually what happens when a queen wants to win an episode.

A mini challenge happens

Tracy is finally HERE!

Canada’s Drag Race got a DOORDASH Sponsorship and I’m here for it.

This weeks challenge is a musical called “Under the big top”. They have to try and learn dancing moves from Hollywood Jade and sing live. Some of these queens cant sing and it shows lol.

The main challenge arrives.

Brooke and Tracy look fabulous!!!

Brooke is eating Ru up on these runways. Let me find out Brookelynn stylist is better then Ru’s 😱.

The performance happens and to be honest the two that stood out to me or Kendall gender and Pythia. Cynthia is OK, but honestly she’s giving me basic white queen and judging by runway later… I see why she didn’t win. A good voice and no body will only get you so far.

So many of these queens were so boring and can’t dance. I want to put that first little trio all in the bottom….

Pythia was amazing and stood out for all the right reasons.

This Circus theme runway was an amazing idea. Kendall,Pythia, Eve 6000, and Icesis all gave looks.

Eve 6000 causes unnecessary drama in untuck. I’m really starting to not like Eve 6000. She’s coming off as insecure and jealous of the VC girls.

Pythia wins, as she should.

I agree with putting Icesis in the bottom to see if she’s more than a look queen. Also Eve’s runway saved her.

 Icesis (I lied about having bad knees) Couture wins the lip sync.

Till next week 😄.



[grapecaseschoices]

Representation in IF (or the lack thereof)

In recent days, the topic of race and ethnicity - as well as treatment of marginalized communities within IFs and their fandoms - has been the premier point of conversation. It has become paramount for people of color, lately, to advocate for themselves in regards to issues of white washing, stereotypes, and white people (...and sadly, other people of color) feeling too comfortable using slurs.

Nothing new there.

As I saw someone recently point out, this is something that crops up every two months. And if you’ve been on tumblr for that length of time, in more than more than one fandom, this is likely something you’ve had to deal with several times within that space of time. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of being a fan of color. (And, often, any type of minority, period.)

We don’t get to escape within the internet into fantasy the same way the “majority” gets to do so. If it isn’t toxic people in the community, it is being disappointed by content creators - either through their comments (or lack thereof) or what they put out in their work.

I can’t speak for every black person or every person of color, however, my fandom experience is one of hyper vigilance. And I’ve noticed that sort of attitude in others.  We have to cut away from certain parts of the fandom. Or cut out work we used to love because of certain outlooks or behaviors.

It is a protective attitude that I’m unapologetic about. By curating my content consumption, it’s pushed me to find, and support, artists that care enough to see people like me as people.  Someone mentioned to me that “as marginalized communities, we have a right to be choosy about our representation in media.” And I agree. We do and we should never, ever feel guilty about it. 

That being said, it can feel kind of alienating.

As I mentioned before, there’s been a continued - one I am glad for - movement in the IF/VN community in calling out bad representation (and treatment of fans).  Fans have pushed for accountability and gotten it. However, I’ve noticed - or at least, I feel - the call for change is sort of limited. There’s a hesitance in our community to ask for that same change of ‘indie’/smaller creators as we do of companies or more established writers. And, honestly, this hesitance has left me with a feeling that the IF/VN community isn’t really one for people of color, particularly black people.

Now, I’m one who tries to give credit where credit is due. The creation of ~interact-if … is probably one of the best things I have ever seen in any community (and I’ve been in fandom/written rpg since HS). I’ve also noticed an increase of writers of color feeling comfortable in writing for their culture or having characters of their culture as well as white creators holding themselves accountable. All of that is what keeps me hopeful about improvement regarding IF works but motivates me to one day do my own. That being said, there is still a lot that needs to be addressed regarding the whiteness of IF work and the depiction of characters of color.

I am going to start off by saying something that may come off as kind of harsh. If you know me, you know what I’m going to say, so you can clock out. If you don’t, take a deep breath, feel frustrated, and then let it go to move on: I don’t think uncomfortability with writing about a marginalized group or unfamiliarity with said group is an excuse. I don’t think “well it’s my work, this is what I know/this is what I want to write” is an excuse. 

IF works in the year 2021 are uncomfortably, awkwardly white (and able-bodied, cis, thin, etc). And I do not think there is ANY excuse, ANY actual reason for it to be that way.

I am sure there are several excuses coming to mind (as I said, I’ve been in RP and fanfic for years, I’ve seen them all—heck, I’ve thought them all. I still do think them at times). However, I’ve always held to the belief that every work that is put out into the universe matters. Everything has an impact.  NO work is too small, nothing is too insignificant. Every art has an effect. And if you’re writing a story, telling a tale, something from your heart to share with others you’re trying to affect your environment in some way, you’re trying to say something.

I feel a lot of us—as I said, I include myself in this too—do not consider what we’re saying to our audience when we create works that are mostly white (or when we can’t have a single character or work with numerous characters that are disabled, fat, mentally ill, trans, I can go on). 

If you’re writing a story, I don’t think you can give yourself any pats on the back for having one or two characters of color. I think we’ve moved beyond that type of ‘diversity by numbers’ … especially when the numbers are often piss poor.  I’m seeing IFs where there are three characters of color to six white ROs. Not only is that ‘ratio’ (for lack of a better word) shitty on it’s own, people don’t consider that the actual dynamic is 1:1:1:6. People of color are not a monolith. I, as a black Haitian-American woman, may have similar experiences as an indigenous woman from Canada and a persian person from Iran …. But we are not the same. Yes, it is great to have a diversity of characters. I’m not saying you shouldn’t include people from different backgrounds in your works.

But please consider why it is never the case that there are two Japanese-Brazilians, three black people from Manchester, and a mixed-race Indigenous/Afro-Latina from Queens, and one white person. It is extremely rare to see multiple of one race or ethnicity in an IF if that race isn’t white.

I feel not only is that problem, I believe it is a conversation that needs to be had. Both as a community and as something writers discuss with themselves, as they review their work. 

And that is the tip of the iceberg. We need to have discussions on the tendency of characters of color to have light colored eyes, or the preference of East Asians (and light skinned ones at that) over any other Asian, or the ambiguously brownness of descriptors. We need to talk about white-washing in face claims that directly oppose established descriptions, or how Artbreeder being bad at black people is NOT an excuse for your black character looking similar to the one in three different other IFs (put the effort in). 

We as a community need to have several discussions or else I feel it will be another five years before we’re dragging our feet toward better representation. And that shouldn’t be the case. At all. 

[loudlytransparenttrash]

Have you noticed over the years that the SJW stuff is seeping into STEM?

Wow, that sounds like a right-wing conspiracy theory to me that must be dismissed and never spoken of again. As long as you ignore all the following examples of social justice seeping into STEM, there is no evidence of social justice seeping into STEM. 

In a 82-page training manual titled “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction”, the Oregon Department of Education plans to root out “white supremacy” in mathematics, by not asking students to show their work or placing any emphasis on getting the right answer, which will stop white supremacy from “popping up in the classroom.” The racist implication is that non-white students are incapable of “showing their work” or “getting the right answers,” and so teachers must scrap the academic bar altogether. To fight such white supremacy, math teachers are urged to accept TikTok videos from students instead of math work. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation fund the training.

Seattle public schools created a framework to protect children from racist and “oppressive mathematical practices.” Included in this report, educators and students will learn, “How important is it to be Right? What is Right? Says Who?“, “Who holds power in a mathematical classroom?“, “Can you recognize and name oppressive mathematical practices in your experience?” “Who is doing the oppression?” “Who does the oppression protect?”, “Explain how math and technology and/or science are connected and how technology and/or science have been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color.” The Seattle school district also put into place a K-12 curriculum that encourages students “to explore how math has been ‘appropriated’ by Western culture and used in systems of power and oppression.”

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Wake Forest University now offers a “racist and anti-racist uses of math and statistics” class because “The time has come for us to focus on fighting racism and making plans to create a more equitable educational space.” In addition to the new anti-racism math class, the math department at Wake Forest has placed a declaration at the top of its webpage that affirms Black Lives Matter, pledges to try and hire more faculty of color and launch microaggression trainings, and organize a math/stats colloquium on social justice.

The University of California now require ‘diversity contributions’ and statements from future math professors. Applicants are asked to write a statement in which they explain how they will advance the university’s diversity plans. “The Division of Physical Sciences has a strong interest in ensuring that all candidates hired have the professional skills, experience, and/or willingness to engage in activities that will advance our campus equity, diversity and inclusion goals.” The purpose of the diversity statement as a method of evaluating a candidate’s “awareness of the barriers that exist for groups historically under-represented”, “past efforts in diversity and outreach activities” and “future plans to enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education.” One math professor at the University of California, Davis, wrote in opposition to the required “diversity statements,” referring to them as “using a political test as a screen for job applicants.”

The Mathematical Association of America released a statement in which it argued that mathematics contains “human biases” that can only be corrected by promoting critical race theory to math educators and students.

A math education professor at the University of Illinois argues that the teaching of math subjects such as Pythagorean Theorem perpetuates white privilege because they were developed by Europeans. “Mathematics itself operates as whiteness and who is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as white.” He also argued there’s no such thing as objective truths.

A Math Education professor from Brooklyn College argued that the "trope” of “2+2=4 reeks of white supremacist patriarchy.” It was also promoted by several academics at colleges around the nation, with another suggesting math should be reevaluated because it was primarily developed by white men. He also complains that “meritocracy” in math classes is a “tool of whiteness.” Teachers who claim color-blindness - that is, they claim to not notice the race of their students—are, in effect, oppressing them. “By claiming not to notice, the teacher is saying that she is dismissing one of the most salient features of the child’s identity and that she does not account for it in her curricular planning and instruction.” He recommends that math teachers incorporate more social justice issues into math lessons, but warns that even “teaching for social justice” can be a “tool of whiteness” if teachers are not sufficiently sympathetic to minority students.  

A University of Rhode Island professor claimed that science, statistics and technology are inherently racist “because they are developed by racists living in a racist society, whether they identify as racists or not.” The professor also recently came under scrutiny after condoning an Antifa member killing a Trump supporter last year. After a commenter called him out for his position on his post, he replied “He killed a fascist. I see nothing wrong with it, at least from a moral perspective.”

Duke University has a new computer science course that will focus on race, gender, and class within the world of computing, in order to change the “working environment” of the field. “This course explores the diversity, equity, and inclusion challenges in computing through an introduction to and analysis of various social constructs and their impact on not only computing departments and organizations but also the technologies developed. This course also introduces students to cultural competence in the context of computing.” “We have to change the mindset of a workforce that is overwhelmingly white, Asian and male.”

A group of mathematics professors argued in their published book that math teachers must “live out social justice commitments” to fight privilege in the classroom. Math teachers, “must learn how to advocate for students, self-examine for biases, and strategically subvert the system in which they teach to counteract student oppression,” adding that the development of “political knowledge” is key. “Any amount of connection to issues of equity, diversity, social justice, and power is better than none at all.”

Activists persuaded top science journals to stop work for a day and to validate their claims of “white supremacy” throughout the American science sector. The small group of black academics and scientists demanded that science be “reorganized” for black Americans as they pushed the hashtag #ShutDownSTEM. One of their manifestos demanded that the goal of “justice for black Americans” be prioritized above scientific discovery and objective reality. Another manifesto portrayed all scientists who put science first are racists: “Unless you engage directly with eliminating racism, you are perpetuating it.” In response, two of the leading science publications, Science Magazine and Nature, agreed to not talk about science for a day and instead use their Twitter accounts to post the demands and claims by the radicals.

A physicist at the University of Zaragoza is using cross-dressing drag to “empower” minorities in science and technology fields. In an article on the website, Lady Science, he says drag is still uncommon in scientific fields, because “sexism, racism, ableism and LGBTphobia remain very much alive in academia.”

A recent paper published by a team of various college professors makes the case that STEM courses should be made easier for female students. The researchers argue that “gender” inequities in the STEM majored could be lessened by artificially inflating grades. The study claims that the STEM fields would see an 11.3 percent increase in female students if STEM classes practically erased grading.

A Vanderbilt University professor complained in an academic journal article that the field of mathematics is a “white and heteronormatively masculinized space.” In the article titled Unpacking the Male Superiority Myth and Masculinization of Mathematics at the Intersection, he argues that the apparent “gender gap” in mathematical success is socially constructed. He concludes by expressing a hope that future analyses of gender in mathematics take a more “intersectional” approach, after noticing “intersectional considerations of mathematics achievement and participation shaped by whiteness and sexuality” were left out of many of the studies he reviewed. Intersectionality theory from black feminist thought, he adds, can allow for “more nuanced analyses of gender” and its relation to mathematical performance.

Auburn Drive High School in Canada offers a class in “Africentric” mathematics. It incorporates “discussions about the students’ cultural backgrounds, history and their lived experiences,” all the while teaching them math and associated concepts “through an Africentric lens.”

A scientific journal retracted a professor’s article which criticized hiring based on skin color and sex, leading to apologies from both the journal and the professor’s university. The professor had wrote, “The rise and emphasis on hiring practices that suggest or even mandate equality in terms of absolute numbers of people in specific subgroups is counter-productive if it results in discrimination against the most meritorious candidates.” The journal withdrew the article “amid a backlash” and reassured the professor’s “views do not reflect our values of fairness, trustworthiness and social awareness,” and added they “stand against discrimination, injustices and inequity.”

Two national mathematics organizations are on a mission to prove that math education is “unjust and grounded in a legacy of institutional discrimination.” The National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics and TODOS: Mathematics for All, aim to “ratify social justice as a key priority in the access to, engagement with, and advancement in mathematics education for our country’s youth,” the groups declared in a joint statement, elaborating that “a social justice stance interrogates and challenges the roles power, privilege, and oppression play in the current unjust system of mathematics education and in society as a whole.”

Students at the Claremont McKenna Colleges staged a protest to make it known that objective truth is a ‘white supremacist’ myth devised by “white supremacists” to “attempt to silence oppressed peoples.”

Boston Public Schools have suspended their advanced academic program due to racial ‘equity’ concerns. Acceptance to the program was decided on standardized grade test scores and the successful students would be required “to study in greater depth, with more schoolwork and more home study than the traditional curriculum.” Because 70 percent of students in the program were white and Asian, the program was scrapped. A committee member said she was “very disturbed” by the racial statistics and noted they are “just not acceptable.” The superintendent said “There’s a lot of work we have to do in the district to be antiracist.” Advanced programs for gifted students often are targets either for complete abolition or restructuring due to “incorrect” racial and ethnic demographics.

A recent Washington Post article lamented the fact that biology textbooks contain a disproportionate number of “white men.” “They’re all men. They’re all white, and are written from a very white perspective.”

Cell, a prominent science journal, published a statement accusing their entire discipline of racism. “Science has a racism problem,” they assert, apparently concluding that underrepresentation of a given ethnic group must equate to a deliberate wrongdoing against that group. “Cell stands with our Black readers, reviewers, authors, and colleagues. We are committed to listening to and amplifying their voices, to educating ourselves, and to finding ways that we can help and do better. We alone cannot fix racism.” They go on to list all of the affirmative action changes they can make.

Fordham University’s Political Science department announced it had voted to adopt a new policy that mandates professors must use a student’s “preferred” name and pronouns. The decision was announced just two weeks after student activist groups demanded that the university publicly “resist transphobic rhetoric.” The activist students were inspired to make these demands after reading an article by the New York Times, which reported that the Trump administration had been considering defining sex as “male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.”

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics states on its website that “mathematics teachers should “reflect on their own identity, positions, and beliefs in regards to racist and sorting-based mechanisms” and “notice students, learn about the worlds they live in, and build mathematics that comes from these worlds.” They also hold webinars titled “Developing Social Justice Mathematics Activists in Pre-K-Grade 5,” its description states that “mathematics should become a social justice tool that empowers students to mathematically recognize and address oppression they see in their own world.”

Wayne State University, Detroit, dropped math as a graduation requirement and is replacing it with mandatory “Diversity courses.” UCLA also approved a “diversity graduation requirement,” which stipulates that every student in the College of Letters and Sciences take a course about “inequalities based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion, among other factors.”

Radical Math is “a resource for educators interested in integrating issues of social and economic justice into their math classes and curriculum.” Radical Math boasts over 700 lesson plans, articles, charts, books, and websites that cover a wide range of socio-political issues from redistribution of wealth to racial profiling.

A professor at the University of California-Davis has vowed to “challenge the authority of Science” by “rewriting knowledge” through a feminist lens. Science, she worries, has “earned its epistemic authority through its co-constitution with colonization and slavery,” and therefore “relies on a colonial and racialized form of power.” Not only is science rooted in racism, she alleges, it has been used to perpetuate racism and colonial practices. “At the root of the justification for social inequality then is Western science,” she says, claiming that science’s distinction between “humans and non-humans” has allowed “capitalism to be justified as a natural economic system.

The New York Times published an article highlighting several academics who say “Earth Science has a whiteness problem.” One of them, from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said white geoscientists should help increase a “sense of belonging” among non-white groups by “separating their privilege as a white person from their identity as a good person.” Another, who helped create a book club which fellow geoscientists talk about “race and white privilege,” added that earth science classes could be “enriched” by more Native American voices since “Indigenous people have a unique connection to the land.”

University of Wyoming added a diversity course in geosciences meant to address a lack of diversity within the field. The course was the result of a diversity survey conducted by the university in which 67 percent of faculty responded that diversity, equity, and inclusion classes should be required for all students. “The primary goal of the class is to raise awareness that lack of diversity, equity and inclusivity is a problem in our scientific community and in academia in general. The lectures aim to make students think about implicit bias that we often have and don’t recognize and students have the chance to learn from life experiences of scientists from underrepresented groups. The systemic racism that is present in our society also is present in academia. Black, Hispanic, women and LGBTQ scientists are disproportionally underrepresented in the student and faculty population, and students from underrepresented minorities are often the target of microaggressions on campus.”

The National Science Foundation is paying for a multi-million program at Drexel University to help teachers learn how to work social justice into their classrooms. “This project intends to promote social justice teaching, which emphasizes connecting science, mathematics, and engineering instruction to students’ personal experiences and culture. The long-term and far-reaching benefits to society of this project are the potential to document and share sustainable approaches, steeped in the context of social justice.”

The University of Louisville had an opening in its physics and astronomy department, but it ruled out white and Asian applicants. “University of Louisville is an affirmative action, equal opportunity, Americans with disabilities employer, committed to community engagement and diversity, and in that spirit, seeks applications from a broad variety of candidates. The Department of Physics and Astronomy announces a tenure-track assistant professor position that will be filled by an African-American, Hispanic American or a Native American Indian.”

UC Santa Cruz hosted an event called “Research Justice 101: Tools for Feminist Science” where “Participants will be challenged to apply principles and practices of justice to their own work, interrogating questions such as: Who benefits? Who is harmed? Who is most vulnerable? And ultimately, who do we do science for?” The workshop concludes with practical skills and resources for participants to push their research “to be more inclusive, equitable and attentive to social justice.”

A professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago wants others to teach “math for social justice” to help fight the “oppressive status quo” in the United States. He argues that teaching “critical mathematics” isn’t an option for math teachers, but rather a “responsibility to our future.” “We have a responsibility to our future and our planet, to life and all species. What we do in the classroom matters, for today and tomorrow, and the myriad possibilities for resistance and transformation.” “In my work, I argue that K-12 students need to be prepared through their mathematics education to investigate and critique injustice (such as racism and language discrimination) and to challenge, in words and actions, oppressive structures and acts.”

Central Connecticut State University is running a contest, asking students to "express their personal connection to the Black Lives Matter Movement” and reassures students that it’s lowering the racist grammatical standards for the contest. On the website, the school notes “submissions will not be judged on traditional literary or grammatical standards.”

A science education professor at the University of Arizona believes elementary schoolchildren are being taught “heteronormative” and “limited” ideas in science classrooms, and queer theory curricula is the answer. She explores in her lectures how “inviting sexuality into the elementary science classroom” and “queer theory can be useful tools for re-imagining elementary science education and elementary science teacher preparation.”

An academic journal article suggested appointing a “Safety Officer” and rewarding participation in “diversity programming” to combat “gender inequity” at scientific conferences. “Addressing gender inequity should be a primary consideration for all societies hosting conferences, yet many STEM conferences are struggling with gender biases and the understanding that gender inequity also applies to non-binary gender identities and intersectional diversity/overlapping social identities.” They call for the introduction of a gender-based Code of Conduct for all attendees to abide by, appointing a “safety officer” at each scientific conference to make it easier for people to report if they feel they have been subjected to harassment or discrimination, and paying the cost of travel for women who wish to attend the conference.

The director of libraries at MIT argued that tech workplaces need to ditch “Star Trek” posters and other geeky stuff to be more inclusive and welcoming to women. “Replace the Star Trek posters with travel posters, don’t name your projects or your printers or your domains after only male figures from Greek mythology, and just generally avoid geek references and inside nerd jokes. Those kinds of things reinforce the stereotypes about who does tech.” She is a self-described “butch and queer” cis woman and “the work of libraries and librarians is to support feminist research and agendas. She also complained that “A profession that is 88% white means 5000% agony for people of color, no matter how liberal and enlightened you think you are.” She also said we need to have “a f**king reckoning about the pain we cause, and that we need to do some hard work on decolonizing our organizations and our professions.”

PLUS ignore these hundred other examples.

[handeaux]

Eliza Potter Styled Cincinnati’s Hair, Then Printed All The Gossip

Eliza Potter scandalized Cincinnati when she published a book that, as they used to say, “told tales out of school” about high-society in Cincinnati.

This was shockingly unexpected for any number of reasons. To begin with, Eliza was African American. When she published her book, in 1859, most African Americans were enslaved. In many states, it was illegal to teach an African American how to read and write. Eliza had access to the city’s upper crust because she was in demand as a hair dresser at a time when women’s hair took hours to get right. Eliza had skills, and she had a prodigious memory.

She was born Eliza Johnson around 1820 in Cincinnati, maybe. It’s possible she only claimed to be born here to hide her actual birth in Virginia and her family’s escape to New York, where she was raised. Throughout most of her career she was unattached, but she had been married at some point. She is listed as “Mrs.” in the city directories and had at least two children. Her goal was to travel, to see the world, and she traveled a lot – from Louisville to New Orleans to England to the Saratoga Resorts. Perhaps her most permanent address was in Cincinnati, where she lived on three separate occasions, once spending at least five years at a single residence just off Fourth Street near Elm.

Eliza’s clients required her services from as early as 8:00 a.m. to as late as midnight on nights of society balls. As she worked on their hair, the women either gossiped with Eliza or with other women in the room. Eliza heard everything. She saw everything as well. After watching women in Paris and London abstaining from food at most social functions, the gluttony of Cincinnati appalled her.

“I have known ladies here, particularly in Cincinnati, take two or three sets of handkerchiefs, and not only carry away cakes and candy, but actually game. I have known them to do worse than even that.”

The reader gets the impression that Cincinnati society was much like a wasp nest, with the grandes dames ready to sting at any moment.

“Affairs in our Queen City are not managed as they used to be; for I remember the time when a lady would never for a moment think of speaking disparagingly of another in any way; but now the ladies have got a habit of talking about others to make themselves grand; they pick to pieces and talk about every lady they know; some will talk to their hair-dresser, and some to their milliner or dressmaker, about Mrs. or Miss This-or-That, and pick her to pieces.”

Sometimes, Eliza reported, society ladies went to extremes to put someone in their place, or to remind them that they had their place.

“One morning I was going very early to comb a lady for her marriage, who was going off on the early train, and on passing along the street I saw hanging on the knob of a lady's door, an old dress, with needles, thimble, spools of cotton, scissors and everything belonging to a dress-maker. I made inquiry a few days after and heard it was done by a neighbor, who thought the lady had forgotten her mother's occupation, so that she might be reminded from what she had sprung.”

Eliza’s rapier is unsheathed for visitors as well as natives. Apparently, women from the East Coast had only a dim idea of what life was like out here on the western frontier.

“The eastern ladies think there is a great deal of wealth out west and they wish to come and take part. I often laugh at them when they come to Cincinnati, as after dashing around a little they find the people are not so green, nor are wealthy husbands so easily picked up as they think for. I have often seen ladies from New York, who moved in a pretty good circle at home, struck with perfect astonishment on entering some of our parlors here.”

Still, Eliza was reminded continually that members of her race endured situations she could only imagine. In her conversations with clients and their husbands, she never failed to state her case.

“They began a conversation with me on slavery, which is, with me, a very exciting topic, and I would much rather hold a conversation on any other subject; but, being dragged into it, I did not fail to express my opinion.”

When a foreign prince came to Cincinnati to raise funds for a European cause, Eliza could hardly contain herself.

“We have millions of slaves to look to in our country, which is a curse to it; and before we go abroad to pluck the mote out of our brethren's eye, let us pick the beam out of our own eye.”

At times, Potter’s “excitement” about slavery inspired action. She recounts three months imprisonment in Louisville while she successfully fought a charge that she encouraged a Kentucky slave to seek his freedom in Canada.

Eliza’s book received favorable reviews when it was published. The Cincinnati Gazette [19 October 1859] was particularly appreciative:

“The fact that no man is a hero to his valet has become a portion of the proverbial philosophy of nearly every spoken tongue, and to the thoughtful mind it is no less apparent that even the fairest of her sex is not a heroine in the eyes of her hairdresser. The most obstinate skeptic must throw down the weapons of his unbelief, when to the voice of reason are joined the revelations of a volume which has just seen the light in this city.”

A couple of years after her book was published, Eliza moved back to New York, and it appears she died there in the 1890s. You can find her book online as a free download and it’s still a fun read about Cincinnati society.

[fununtitled]

RPDR Canada (S4) - Golden Beaver causes DRAMA up North - FunUntitled Review

Aloha Drag Racers! Canada's Drag Race has crowned their 4th Queen of the North! But there was a ton of drama and cat fights before the finale. And they introduced a new twist in the form of a GOLDEN BEAVER. Let us know what you thought about these Queens.

You can use our Linktree to choose which site you'd like to listen to our newest Podcast episode such as Spotify and YouTube!