#panopticon lite

[timeagainreviews]

The Panopticon Conundrum

Hello friends! It’s been a full week for me. How about you? My wife had surgery and is still in hospital. (It’s a good thing though!) Last weekend was UK Pony Con in Nottingham. I went dressed as a Jodie Whittaker "Doctor Hooves." A few people got it. Most everyone else wanted to know where my tie was. I also did a Doctor Hooves art piece that sold at £80 for the RDA. It was a great weekend. My boyfriend is on the committee for the convention, so I go every year. There's a lot that goes into putting on a convention, oftentimes it's like a second job for him. Lots of time and effort is put into a successful event of such magnitude. It's really gone to help me appreciate other cons out there.

If you've been paying attention to Twitter, there's been a slightly trending hashtag “#boycottpanopticon.” It's not exactly blown up, but people like Gail Simone and Paul Cornell have both tweeted about it. For those of you not in the know, Panopticon is an old school Doctor Who convention that stopped running around the beginning of the 2005 series. However, they recently decided to reboot the convention. This past weekend was a sort of test run with "Panopticon Lite," which featured an impressive guest lineup of Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, and India Fisher. It was a regular Eighth Doctor affair and I'm sure went off without a hitch. So why the boycott?

Enter Panopticon's website. Hoo-boy is it a mess. It was a tweet about their stance on cosplay which piqued my interest. According to their website, cosplayers open themselves up to getting "a custard pie in the puss," or doused with water. I'm not joking. Or rather, they aren't. This has something to do with Comic Relief, as cosplayers are given the privilege of donating £20 for an immunity badge. One might feel like this is a clear way of saying "cosplayers aren't welcome," when the alternative is "pay up, or get assaulted." Their stance against cosplay is further solidified when further down the page they mention that some cosplays will have to clear the rights with the owners of their IPs. Specifically Daleks, Cybermen, K9 and other full-body costume monsters. I've never heard of a con doing this. This isn't like Disneyland, where costumers need to "Disneybound," to avoid association with the company.

Why so much hostility toward cosplay? A majority of Panopticon's newfound critics seem to agree that it's a hostility rooted deeper than cosplay. To many, this hostility is toward the new fandom, which scans when viewing the evidence. The website reads like a bunch of the old guard fandom griping about younger fans. It's very "Old Man Yells at Cloud." Let's start with the basic fact that the con stopped around 2005. That may seem insignificant, but to me, it sounds like sour grapes. You've been keeping that Doctor Who torch burning for years, and you stop just as it bears fruit? Not to put too fine a point on it, but that sounds gatekeepery. Feeling ostracised because a new generation didn't have to live through the wilderness years is a weird reaction to your favourite show coming back.

In comic book conventions, you see a lot of hostility toward cosplay from the old fans as well. Walt Flanagan from AMC's "Comic Book Men," went through the growing pains of cosplay acceptance throughout the run of the show. You saw him go from a guy who thought it took attention away from the creators, to a guy who dressed in cosplay several times. It's an expensive, arduous, and stressful process to put together a successful cosplay, I should know. It's a labour of love on par with organising a convention, running a fan club, or writing fan fiction. Furthermore, it's here to stay. You may as well be yelling at a cloud.

It goes even deeper than cosplay. I mentioned that it's difficult to run a convention. I've had lonely evenings watching TV while my boyfriend was stuck working on the rota for Pony Con. Panopticon's organisers are not unfamiliar with running a convention. They know how hard it can be. Why then do they hate their stewards so much? In their section about stewards, they go on to tell potential attendees not to expect the stewards to know much of anything other than where the bathrooms are. They don't expect them to even know what day of the week it is. Now I get it, sometimes volunteers are just in it for the free ticket. Some people are morons. Some people are just plain helpless. But one of the things I learned from one of my favourite Pony Con volunteers, Tom, is that some of them are incredibly hard workers. The fact that the organisers seem to have such disdain for their workers isn't just crass, it's downright cruel.

Those of you who know my blog know I can be a snarky bitch at times. It's me having a laugh. I can get behind a convention trying to come off as a little bit more personable by infusing some humour. But as Twitter user drwhofan_194 said "It's unprofessional to joke about stuff which makes your attendees feel unsafe or unwelcome." Which is absolutely true. You can't assume everyone who isn't laughing has no sense of humour. Because for some, being in a giant room full of strangers is hard enough without also having to worry about a custard pie to their face. It's your job to maintain a safe environment, and if you can't take that seriously, why should anyone entrust their safety with you?

I would love to say that the website stops at custard pies and decrying the help, but it doesn't. Of course, it doesn't. This immaculate train wreck is still careening off the side of a cliff. You can also count on a good old fashioned bit of sexism. In a now edited section about seating, there was a comment made about how everyone wants to good seats so they can bask in the glow of Tom Baker, or even sneak a peak up Katy Manning or Frazer Hines' skirts. Twitter users well versed in being deliberately obtuse were quick to point out that Frazer was a man, meaning it wasn't sexist, because equal opportunity. Now I get it's a joke. Katy is sexy and Frazer wears kilts, I get it. However, I also get what it feels like to be a female fan of Doctor Who. I know what it's like to cringe every time you hear a male fan slime on about the companions' bodies. To have to hear male fans call Jenna Coleman a stuck up cow because she doesn't want to be casually assaulted by fans. I know what it feels like to be worried that every male fan I meet will eventually come onto me, like so many have in the past. Comments about looking up Katy Manning's skirt aren't just childish, they're alienating to women.

One has to wonder if that's not slightly the point. Was the language used by the organisers meant to push certain groups away? On the homepage, they go on a bizarre rant about morality and common sense. The words "traditional values," are even used. There's a vagueness like a man having an argument with someone over the phone. You can somewhat piece together the conversation through context, but who he's yelling at is a mystery. It reads like a person who has gotten into one too many flamewars online. They seem to see themselves as white knights, here to put the fandom right. Which is funny because I wasn't aware it was broken. Furthermore, I'm always very suspicious of anyone who seems to attract so much drama to themselves. If you're getting into heated arguments about Doctor Who, you need to reevaluate some shit in your life.

I could go on about the website, but at this point, I'm curious to see Panopticon's reaction. Other than the minor edit here or there, they've been shockingly blase about the whole thing. Reportedly going as far as to say it was “a form of market research to see who had a sense of humour.”  This could be particularly damaging as I've already seen users saying that even with an apology, they "wouldn't let [their children] near this event in a hundred years." It's amazing that a convention that was well established as the go-to Doctor Who convention for years, can squander so much goodwill with such a stupid website. At best, it's a PR nightmare. At worst, it was done on purpose. The fact that someone had this much power to take the concept and run with it, suggests that whoever wrote this dribble is rather high up in the organisation. It's one of those "Who watches the Watchmen?" kind of scenarios.

If the organisers have nobody higher to answer to, perhaps the last bastion against their smug minded drudgery is Twitter user walsallmatt's proposed boycott. Has Panopticon killed itself mid-regeneration, or can they come back from this fiasco? They've already situated themselves as the kind of people who will decide the real fans from the fake ones. Would any kind of apology make that ever seem fun? Will they lose potential guests like McGann or Manning due to this bad press? I'm sure there will still be a devout following that will come regardless, but is it enough? Even a convention with a rich history like Panopticon cannot simply rest on its laurels. Doctor Who didn't justify its return by banking on nostalgia. It built upon what came before and moved with the times when it was necessary. At this point, it looks like the only way we'll see Panopticon return to its glory days is with a time machine.

[fateology]

witness my brain rot. tma raven cycle au but i haven’t looked at trc in many years so probably even more of a mess than it fundamentally is as a concept

martin blackwood as BLUE SARGENT

this is a pretty obvious choice since i casted jon as gansey already. fox way women include jane prentiss/annabelle cane/agnes montague, who all raised him as a spooky polycule. helen is there also opening doors in his bedroom when he needs boy advice (she is not to be trusted)

he is also the number one aglionbyphobe in town. comes very close to spitting on jon during their first meeting, which is a great coincidence, because jon, too, was dying to spit on him

they work it out though but only after many books of disdainful co-adventuring

his dad may or may not have been a tree

jonathan sims as RICHARD GANSEY

what is he looking for? glendower? jonah magnus’ corpse? probably jonah magnus’ corpse. when he was eight he nearly died after being attacked by i dunno a very large owl but he heard A Voice and survived. now he will not stop until he finds that buried old shithead

picks up friends like they’re fun rings. he’s not even that sociable so no one’s really sure how it happens

sits awake in monmouth every night with gerry/melanie and builds little cardboard panopticons that he sees in his dreams. why is he looking for the corpse of jonah magnus? unclear. he sure knows a lot about the man though

owner of a terrible horrible car that martin has definitely succeeded in spitting on at one point. the car is an extension of his soul so it was the next best thing

georgie barker as ADAM PARRISH

certain about this because georgie could so be an adam. aglionby is co-ed here so she can hate from within the club. the number two aglionbyphobe, she would be number one if not for the fact that she actually is in aglionby, which bumps her down one spot

begins a very intense rivalry/mutual interest with this other awful girl jon’s acquired as a friend aka wtgfs as pynch!

later on she gets psychic lessons from fox way ladies. scries in the aglionby girls toilet by plugging the sinks when she should be in latin class

(georgie, eyes black: WHAT DID MELANIE KING GET ON HER GATSBY ESSAY. AND WAS IT HIGHER THAN ME

cracks in the porcelain, rearranging: 89

georgie: FUCK)

melanie king as RONAN LYNCH

she is one half of two ronans because i split ronan into two parts. she’s ronan prime. the number three aglionbyphobe. rouser of tempers, flouter of school rules, breaker of nose bridges

she and jon are friends because she broke his nose in phys ed after he ran into her on accident

super into the other awful girl jon’s acquired as a friend, will not admit it even to herself. proceeds to have four books worth of angry dreams about it

drives her dead father’s swanky car around all the time because what is the raven cycle about if not driving your dead father’s swanky car around all the time. brotherless, except for gerry, who is basically her declan. they’re both greywarens and the worst kind of bffs

gerard keay as RONAN LYNCH, DOS, or DECLAN LYNCH, LITE

gerry is also a lynch sibling except that he’s both declan and ronan somehow

mary is niall and eric is aurora. instead of grieving for mary’s death gerry goes frolicking in the hills out of sheer joy (ABOUT TIME! and with a TIRE IRON no less! this is everything he’s dreamed of)

but also eric is dream-asleep except when he’s in the forest...what was it called...cabeswater. so not a full win. cabeswater was a keay/king team effort

anyway gerry greywaren indulgence 💖 he would do great with a raven on his shoulder. he was the one who brought jon to the nurse after melanie broke his nose, providing jon with the absolute coup of two awful new friends in one day. fast forward some months and gerry’s bunkbedding with melanie in monmouth

lots of gay rivalries (4 to be specific) and gay car races, which brings me to the next thing,

mike crew as JOSEPH KAVINSKY

except less of a douchebag and more of an asshole. primarily because the witch at the middle of the figurative bog of my prolonged tma brain rot is gerrymike. actually this would be tma dream thieves au if i’m being honest

lichtenberg figure = mike’s dream monster. mike does the counterfeiting thing mostly with rare books because he’s looking for something to exorcise the lichtenberg from his dreamscape.

that feeling when your family is rich as balls and you are functionally or genuinely an orphan and also you can manifest objects in your real life from your sleeping brain. nothing to be done about it except have some homosexual car races with your rival who happens to be sexy and a goth. once more, driving your dead father’s swanky car around all the time.

his dream pack includes jude perry/michael shelley/mikaele salesa except it’s not His dream pack because he doesn’t have the kavinsky ringleaderitis and they’re just weirdos who hang out together and occasionally do dream narcotics

sasha james as NOAH CZERNY

classic. the secretly been a ghost all this time! got #murdered years ago so she’s glad that her friends don’t seem to mind. everyone just thought she was like anemic or something.

depending on where you began the story it was about sasha james...was more when she was alive etc etc.

definitely was a skater. got beat to death with her skateboard by her best friend who was also quizzically named sasha

timothy stoker as HENRY CHENG

i don’t think i have to say much but yeah. he’s gerry’s fourth gay rivalry. wildly aglionby-popular which is honestly not something he should be proud of (he knows this)

constantly getting dunked on by all of jon’s friends but he can dunk back just as good which is a relief for him

embroiled in a mystic dynasty of his own thru his mom but way more well adjusted about it than gerry or melanie (they dunk on him to cope)

hobbies include toga parties and joining other peoples relationships (aka jonmartim as sarchengsey)

no real plot to all of it because i can’t figure out who’s who in terms of antagonists. all of them are jonah magnus wearing different people’s skins probably

[skifferrok]

Höstens Vägvisare

Inläggs-spellista

Nu när höstmörkret börjar lägra sig och löven lämnar träden är det många som märker av förändring även inombords, det tar sig uttryck i allt från mutter om kyla till glada tillrop om varma kläder. För mig är hösten en skiftningarnas årstid, den känns på något sätt väldigt dynamisk och ger mig utrymme att bara vara. Oavsett hur du förhåller dig till hösten kan det ju vara trevligt med lite musik ibland, så här kommer tre album värdiga att ledsaga dig in i vintern.

III. Markerna Bortom - Saiva

År 2010 släpps Lönndom - Viddernas Tolv Kapitel och i min mening bland det bästa som gjorts i musikväg. Fyra år senare meddelar dåvarande medlem Andreas Petterson å Lönndoms vägnar att projektet lagt ner, men konstaterar att samma anda lever vidare i hans soloprojekt Saiva. En knapp vecka efter att Markerna Bortom släppts är detta tydligare än någonsin och när sången ger sig tillkänna på öppningsspåret är det omöjligt att inte dras med, från “Nordmarkens Älvar” till själva “Nordan”.

II. Autumn Eternal - Panopticon

Som den klurige kanske redan räknat ut är hösten min favoritårstid och vad passar då bättre än ett album med titeln ‘Evig Höst’? Efter de starkt folkinfluerade albumen Kentucky och Roads to the North trodde nog många att Autumn Eternal skulle fortsätta på samma spår, Austin Lunn gjorde det motsatta och lät folkinstrumenten ta ett steg tillbaka. Med de starkaste sång- och instrumentinsatserna hittils bevisar Lunn att han inte har något att bevisa; att Panopticon inte är någon gimmick. Panopticon är ett fantastiskt metalband och Autumn eternal ett fantastiskt metalalbum.

I. Autumn Aurora - Drudkh

Aurora, morgonrodnadens gudinna. Drudkh, ett helt okej band. Autumn Aurora, ett mästerverk. Där skulle min utläggning kunna vara klar, jag har effektivt förklarat titeln och sammanfattat albumet. På ett sätt är det nästan svårt att utveckla vad som gör albumet så bra, för det är ett album som fångar höstens själva essens som en skiftande årstid fylld av kontrast och dualitet. Ta produktionen som exempel, den är rå men ändå luftig; den känns både varm och kall. Atmosfären i Autumn Aurora är så upptagande, att När “The First Snow” tar slut behöver jag flera sekunder för att återgå till verkligheten. Det blir lite märkligt att snön inte börjat falla utanför mitt fönster, för här har hösten bara börjat.

/Mattias Niklasson

[nathanredblur]

Learning day

Hoy fue un dia de leer muchas cosas. Entre tanto, lei sobre la importancia de aprender pero mas que aprender, es retener el conocimiento.

Recordé que tiempo atrás me cuestionaba sobre que veía mucho en internet pero que al final de dia, que es lo que había aprendido?

Retomo hoy ese ejercicio y trataré rápidamente de dar un atisbo sobre todo lo leído hoy. 

1. Aunque muchos nuevos frameworks aparecen constantemente en la escena, React.js sigue dominando por su demanda en el mercado laboral, rapidéz y uso por grandes compañías como facebook, twitter y airbnb. https://medium.com/@paularmstrong/twitter-lite-and-high-performance-react-progressive-web-apps-at-scale-d28a00e780a3

2. en diseño, el degrade es la nueva tendencia por su expresividad y aproximación al mundo real, el limon no solo es verde, tiene matices de otros verdes y amarillos. Esto enriquecer las interfaces. https://medium.muz.li/why-gradients-are-the-new-colors-3d8d42a7a6fc

3. Mi siguiente nivel en mi carrera es ser UX, un rápido vistazo a sus funciones me demuestra que no estoy muy lejos de lo que hago actualmente. https://www.paysa.com/blog/2017/01/17/how-to-become-a-ux-designer/

4. UX motion, diversos tipos de animaciones en la web y como estas ayudan a tender la interface y comunicar una historia. https://medium.com/ux-in-motion/creating-usability-with-motion-the-ux-in-motion-manifesto-a87a4584ddc

5. Panopticon, tipo de construccion para carceles que permite desde un solo punto poder ver todas las celdas. y sobre como la reputacion se vuelve un panoptico en el que todos actuan con miedo de salirse de las reglas culturales y sociales de una pricion social. Romper sin miedo a perder y reconstruir tu reputacion. no muy interesante en mi segunda lectura. https://medium.com/the-mission/build-your-reputation-but-dont-be-afraid-to-destroy-it-and-become-notorious-ad6223ec2a05

Some other insp in https://medium.muz.li/ 6. Mid Century, estilo de diseño de interiores y grafico que retoma los años 20.

7. google pixel es un excelente Cell de muy buena camara pero muy costoso. 

8. estadisticamente comprobado http://www.metacritic.com/ es el mas confiable rating sistem para peliculas.

9. Mac no ha hecho ninguna gran mejora en sus nuevos macbook pro, un articulo sugiere migrar al microsoft surface, pero lamentablemente los ratings de amazon no le favorecen, incluso los rating 5 estrellas hablan de problemas en el equipo. Una lastima porque parecia una muy buena opcion. https://medium.com/@sdw/why-pro-matters-75593220cb1a

10. un reencuentro con un viejo escrito. http://blogapatico.blogspot.com.co/2014/10/el-dinosaurio-y-la-arepa-de-chocolo.html

11. La cocina de Hanibal Lecter, es la segunda o tercera ves que leeo tan interesante articulo. El origen de sus platos, el sashimi que es carne cruda de pescados. El carpacho que son filetes muy finos de carnes maduradas, el foie grass, higado de pato o ganso engordado a la fuerza en  una practica terrible y sobre una antiguo plantillo ya porhibido en españa, que consiste en comer pequeños pajaritos con picos y huesos en un solo mordisco. El wagyu, un tipo de vaca muy apetecida por su carne magra originario de japon en la regio de kobe y sobre un platillo ruso que basicamente es carne en gelatina. http://www.yonomeaburro.net/2013/06/la-cocina-de-hannibal-los-platos-de-la.html

mucho mas pero ya es momento de descanzar. Hasta pronto.

[skifferrok]

Metal och järnkors: Politiska reflektioner

*Reaktionär används ofta för att på ett nedsättande vis prata om konservatism och nationalism. Jag använder det som ett paraplybegrepp för åsikter som på olika sätt motsätter sig jämlikhet, jämställdhet och progressiva värderingar. En bred definition med andra ord.

*Progressiv används inte som en musikalisk term i det här inlägget, utan används som motpol till begreppet reaktionär.

I våras var jag på jazzklubb där arrangören har som uttalat mål att verka för socialism, vilket inte genomsyrar alla evenemang, men märks till exempel på den typen av politiska evenemang som arrangeras och en generellt progressiv* prägel. Jag hade gått till klubben själv och började prata med en person som tog plats bredvid mig, vi kom snabbt in på musiksmak och jag självfallet extremmetal. Diskussionen förflyttades snabbt till att handla om politik inom metalscenen, något som gjorde mig förvånad. Personen ifråga verkade vilja ha det till att det reaktionära* inte bara är ett element inom metalscenen, utan såpass genomgående att lokalen vi satt och pratade i aldrig skulle kunna boka en black metal-akt. Jag menade att det finns progressiva band även inom black metal och nämnde Panopticon. Kort därefter rann samtalsämnet ut i sanden och kvällen fortsatte i god stämning. Dock kunde jag inte riktigt släppa diskussionen som tagit plats och funderade vidare i egna tankegångar.

Det finns väldigt många aspekter i den här diskussionen och grundproblemet är väl att den knappt verkar föras internt, utan snarare blossar upp i samband med extraordinära händelser, som när en AFA-grupp i USA stängde ner en Marduk-spelning. I en subkultur med stark känsla av tribalism och önskan om att hålla kulturen “opolitisk”, blir reaktionen att en extern oförsteånde kraft vill förstöra för oss invigda. Men jag tycker det är otroligt naivt att förvänta sig att utomstående ska kunna skilja på band som faktiskt har nazistiska åsikter och använder sig av järnkors, från band som inte uttrycker någon politisk åsikt och använder sig av järnkors. Just den här mystiken och känslan av osäkerhet spelar dessutom många band på, det är lite häftigt att  använda sig av symbolik som gemene man förknippar med tredje riket. Men att samtidigt vilja vara provokativ för sakens skull och bli upprörd när provokationen föder reaktion är bara barsnligt i min mening, ett praktexempel på att vilja äta kakan och samtidigt ha den kvar. Band som avstår från politiska uttalanden när deras musik berör laddade ämnen gör inte musiken opolitisk, utan istället lämnar de ett tomrum, som det faller på lyssnaren att tolka och fylla. Ofta uteblir tolkning och det där järnkorset är bara ett järnkors, men i vissa fall får det mer ödesdigra konsekvenser, som att flertalet individer brukade heila under Sabatons konserter när de hade “The Final Solution” på sin set-list. Att konstant exponeras för flirtande med fascism och nazism i olika former utan att detta på något sätt problematiseras, leder på lång sikt till normalisering av samma ideologier. Även om lyssnaren själv inte ändrar åsikt på kuppen, kanske reaktionen när de regelrätta nazisterna marscherar uteblir, för det är ju viktigt att skilja på konst och konstnär samt att inte låta sig provoceras i onödan.

Vi som på något sätt verkar inom metalscenen måste börja kräva mer från varandra och våra band. Med fokus på resultat och inte symbolpolitik. Om någon vill sitta hemma och lyssnat på ett piratat ex. av Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, är det inga problem. Problemet är när vi relativiserar det utrymme vi ger till reaktionära krafter (på festivaler, klubbar och andra forum), istället för att aktivt motarbeta dem och kräva transparens från band. Detta blir extra viktigt i subgenrer som folk metal, då tematiken och lyriken ofta har ett grepp som påminner mycket om det nationalromantiska. Det kan tyckas absurt att användandet av runor ska leda till bekännande av politiska övertygelser och det är beklagligt att organisationer som NMR använder sig av just de där runorna. Men kanske inte heller för mycket begärt att få läsa meningen “nej vi är inte nazister.”?

/Mattias Niklasson

Rekommendationer för vidare läsning på samma tema:

Artikel av Anton Shekhovtsov om metapolitisk fascism inom musik (Utgår främst från neofolk, men kan i hög grad appliceras på viking-, folk- och black metal.)

Karl E. H. Seigfried om att ansvara för sin konsumtion och dess politiska undertoner (Utgår främst från nordisk mytologi, men kan i hög grad appliceras på viking-, folk- och black metal.)