Meme.

[active_apathy]

1. Comment on this post.
2. I'll choose six of your icons and kind of o.O at them.
3. You'll explain what they mean, or why they exist, or why you use them.
4. If you want to, post your answers and this explanation in your journal so others might play along.

Today's selection of icon!explanations was made by kittydesade.




This one comes from Sugarshock! issue 3, which I'll elaborate more on when I get to...



this one, which is also - oddly enough - from Sugarshock!, an online comic written by the Whedon and freely available from Dark Horse Presents, or: the only part of MySpace I'll ever, ever use. It's fun, it's ridiculous, and it's very... Joss? Jossy? Josslike? However you turn the Whedon into an adjective, it's that.

There are, according to some sources, Plans afoot for more Sugarshock! when the Joss has time.

Note that Sugarshock! is properly spelt with the exclamation mark, kind of like SplatterCon!!!



This one was an attempt at making a fun, seasonal icon, which would've originally involved just some kind of Cylon with a hat. The eye-sweepy thing comes free with every Cylon raider (limited numbers! order now!), so the hat-sweepy thing seemed like an amusing follow-on from that.

I may or may not remake it with a centurion at some point.



This one was really just for fun, and was one of the three Serenity gag reel icons that I made (the others being the 'TRAP!' and 'fucking fly' ones). I've been told it looks like Mal goes over to get a new Inara every few seconds; it was entirely accidental, but quite fun.



This one was an idea that I had one day while doing something completely unrelated. And, once that had happened, I just wanted to see if I actually could make it like I wanted within the 40k limit. It took five different attempts - each time I gave up for anywhere from five minutes to an hour, but by the end of the fifth one the icon was made.

And then surprisingly popular - not in an 'I expected people to hate it' sense, but instead a little bit of surprise at the flood of 'OMGICONCANIHAVEITANDUSEITPLEASEPLEASEPRETTYPLEASE'.



And this one was the product of... um, random chance? I think I may have seen something that somehow related to Whitman somewhere, remembered the yawp thing, and then wondered how it'd work for a pirate. And a fo'c'sle can be as good as a roof, so. Icon.

Comments

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Welcome to one of the best journals on LJ. Glad you made it, stay for the ride. It's well worth it.

I'm also Canadian, but am pretty oblivious to politics. Seems pretty much no matter what happens, we all end up fucked in the end.

Unless the Bloc somehow comes into power, then we'll all be "le fucked"

[ifeverangelsbe.livejournal.com]

I have to say, that kind of cyncism makes me real sad. I left my crappy hometown thinking that I can somehow save the country, and hold on dearly to the hope that one day I will.

I figure that the only way we are fucked is we all give up on it. The more people that get involved to keep people accountable and tell them to smarten the hell up, the better. Much like a computer is only as smart as the person operating it, a political system is only as awesome as the people participating (or refusing to participate in it), no?

< / end cheesy sentimentalism >

It's what gets me through my day. I've been working on Parliament Hill since I got to Ottawa.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

For all the "participation" that the vaunted glory of "democracy" is supposed to give us, we really don't have much of any power at all.

You can start with the general institutionalization of the political system. Things are so entrenched that nobody can make a real dent on it in the first place. Anyone who tries anything remotely radical will promptly find themselves facing a vote of non-confidence and an election... or simply removed from power, depending on the position they held.

Politics hates change, and it's self-insulating against that. Party politics forces you to tow the line or get out of the boat. Free votes are rarely on anything of real significance - they happen for publicity purposes, really. When is the last time a free vote actually instated any real change in anything?

Speaking of getting out of the boat... politics doesn't even give you the choice of Sink or Swim. Either you're on a Party boat, or you drown.

Yes, Andre Arthur was elected as a non-incumbent Independent. These things happen from time to time. Last time that happened was 1984 with Tony Roman. Sorry if I'm cynical, but if it takes 22 years to get elected as a genuine independent, I don't think I'm out of line in saying "You're with a party or you have no chance."

Once you're in, you can't be radical at all. Don't rock the boat, or it's political suicide. You have to pander to as wide a voting base as possible in order to keep your job, and this means having the most mushy, watered down, inoffensive policies possible.

You're going to step on someone's toes, but if you do it very gently, you're at less risk next election. The best policy of all is to blow lots of hot air, and posture wildly, while actually doing nothing. Rattle on and on about abortion, and then take no action. Your talk gets you the conservative votes, your lack of action keeps your liberal ones.

Politics is a machine, and the politicians are simply interchangeable parts - cogs and gears that make it go, but easily replaceable with functionally identical parts.

The proof is in the scandal. More accurately, the constant string of scandals, corruption, exposes and other shenanigans that are par for the course up on the Hill. No matter how bad things get, no matter how many people are sacked, no matter how many reprimands issued, no matter how many by-elections there are... nothing changes.

Same shit, different day, different names. There's still scandal, corruption, lobby abuse, backroom dealing, empty campaign promises and an overwhelming lack of real change or action going on.

Politics is ruled by the old. The old and wealthy. Only the young have the enthusiasm and naivete to think that things can be changed for the better, the grand delusion that they can fix things from within. Only they truly believe that the little people, the blue collar shlubs living from paycheque to paycheque, have any real political power. I can't do shit in Ottawa - I have no money. I can't even do squat in Victoria for the same reason.

But last election, we had the ultimate proof that we, the voters, mean jack shit all in this system.

This proof is called David Emerson. Less than 24 hours after being elected as a Liberal, he crosses the floor and joins the direct opposition. On top of that, the Ethics Commission found his innocent of any wrongdoing in this act.

So really... you're telling me that I can cast my all important vote to support the party I believe best represents my interests... and that the person my vote elects can then join the enemy and support everything I'm opposed to...

And this is perfectly legal and ETHICAL... Yet somehow, my vote matters?

Yes. I'm cynical. I haven't seen a damn thing come out of the political system since my birth to give me one whit of reason to not be cynical.

You are more than welcome to try - I encourage debate and discourse, and you can see that I have a lot to say on politics for someone oblivious to politics.

No, I won't be able to debate specific people or bills or votes - I don't pay any mind to those things. But I can discuss politics in general, the failings of democracy and other related issues and would be happy to.

[ifeverangelsbe.livejournal.com]

I'll debate with you, email me at my lj address, I just don't necessarily want to hijack this post ;)

I'm still very young, and wasn't willing to suffer through a Poli-Sci degree, which is why I'm still naïve enough to think that I can affect change.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Pfft. Hijack away.

(also: effect. :) )

[ifeverangelsbe.livejournal.com]

(you'll have to forgive me: my mother tongue is actually French. I should know better, but I often have brainfarts such as these :P)

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Your command of English is excellent. I would have never figured you as a francophone.

[ifeverangelsbe.livejournal.com]

Most people don't. I'm pretty good at hiding it ;)

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

(English has native speakers who don't get homophones, so it's really not that bad. :D)

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I was going to say that you pretty much encourage hijacking. If nothing else, it should make for interesting reading :)

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I'll find something upon which to snack. :D

[ifeverangelsbe.livejournal.com]

Also, beyond voting in elections, have you participated in the political system in other ways? For example, have you voiced your displeasure at the appropriate sources (ie. David Emerson)?

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the cost-benefit of such actions to be worthwhile, so I freely admit that I have not.

Emerson took action, and there was a strident outpouring of disapproval for his actions. His response was pretty much to ignore it all. "Yes, you're cranky, but I made my choice and I'm sticking to it."

I am not in his riding. He won't listen to massive public and media pressure to begin with, why would he listen to one person he doesn't even "represent" and who has no political clout whatsoever?

Politicians typically only pay mind to money (corporate interests, significant donors, lobby groups and the like) or exceptionally noisy and pestiferous activists.

Sadly, like politics, activism is a hobby that's pretty much reserved for the well-to-do. It's hard enough to support myself working fulltime. How am I supposed to take time off work to engage in activism, pay for the assorted flights I'll need to travel to the necessary places, and still make ends meet?

I am no activist, I am no possessor of wealth. While I may have a way with words, my rhetoric is not that strong and my political grounding is nil. I have no political power beyond my one vote, and in the case of Emerson, my vote is irrelevant to him as I'm not in his riding.

What is my one voice going to do? What can it do that all the others have failed to? Absolutely nothing.

So why would I waste my time, money, effort and energy doing so? It's rather illogical to do so.

Politics has shown that it doesn't give a damn about me, and I'm returning the favour.