Cover of Fire, U.K. large print edition, published by Clipper Large Print —>

So. Randomness today. Read what interests you, skip what doesn’t.

• Book Boyfriend Names. I got a kick out of Marie Rutkoski‘s short post about literary boyfriends and their names. Do you even have to read the L’Engle books to know that Adam Eddington is solid and reliable, while Zachary Gray is a bad boy? I have a lot of fun choosing names for my male leads. Poor Po is the butt of Germany, but I hope I’ve done well by my other boys 🙂

• Airbrushing is Creepy. The other day, after I posted the poor rhino who’s trying to slim down to a unicorn, my sister, secret codename: Apocalyptica, sent me the homepage of a famous airbrushing company. I took a look and was subsequently creeped out. First, click on any of the bottom four categories: Beauty/Hair, Correction, Shaping, or Manipulation. Then, watch original images morph into the final cuts by clicking on an image, then dragging the little white rectangle below it from left to right. The Shaping section is particularly… whatever it is… but I was also, um, amazed by the woman in the super-fancy dress in the Correction section. (Second down on the left.) Good thing they were there to correct her, huh? *shudder*

• A Super Blog about American Indians and Appropriation. I’d like to recommend a blog I’ve started reading, called Native Appropriations. Here’s the by-line: “Documenting images of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people, language, and culture in everyday life: countering stereotypes one cigar store Indian at a time.” All the posts are worthwhile, but “Between Pageantry and Poverty: Representing Ourselves” is the one that finally kicked my butt into blogging about it. Do check it out!

• So, You Think We Could See Pasha and Anya Dance Together? With maybe Ade Helping Out? You knew one of these bullets would be about SYTYCD, right? Oh my goodness, I HAVE OPINIONS. First off, two stars are shining bright for me this season: Ashley and Alex. Secondly… I’m not convinced that the All-Star format is working. Because, honestly? With occasional exceptions, the All-Stars are dancing the pants off the contestants. Especially the All-Star girls. Wowee, did you SEE Anya dancing with Jose last week? (I really like Jose, btw, and thought he managed, somehow, to pull that salsa off.) Anyway. Anya is SO HOT. (Trivia: Anya is Pasha’s real-life dancing partner. No wonder they’re both so good, if they have each other to work with!) Add Kathryn and Courtney, Allison and Comfort, and goodness me, no wonder the girl contestants are falling like flies with these All-Star ladies showing them up! And it’s not just the girl All-Stars, of course. I’m so happy Ade is back; he makes me melt. Didja see him dance with Ashley? Talk about partnership. And, Twitch! Didja see him dance with Alex!!? This is the problem, really: it’s just great to see so many loved dancers back. A lot of them are dancers that, IMO, got robbed when they were contestants. And I know more about them, and find myself caring more about them, than I know or care about the contestants. A few select All-Stars are totally filling my field of vision. I don’t think that’s what the show is meaning to achieve, is it? But I know I’m not the only viewer this is happening to. The set-up is problematic. My friend K suggested having a top, say, 16 contestants that dance with each other until it gets down to the top 10, and *then* bring in the All-Stars. Maybe that would be a happy medium? … In other news, I loved when judge Mia Michaels told contestant Lauren that her problem is that she’s too strong, which makes it hard for her to connect with her femininity. If by “loved” I mean “WTF?”, because of course everyone knows that strength and femininity are mutually exclusive. I guess it’s too much to hope that we could get through a whole season without one of Mia Michaels’s obligatory reinforcements of the woman = weak, man = strong dichotomy.

• More Tunes. As I continue through my iPod shuffle, here are some songs I’ve been enjoying: “Shipping up to Boston,” by the Dropkick Murphys. (When I lived with my sister, secret codename: Cordelia, I think my fondness for the Dropkick Murphys was one her her less favorite things about me…) “The Wolf,” by Eddie Vedder, from the fantastic Into the Wild soundtrack. “Moribund the Burgermeister,” by Peter Gabriel. “One by One,” from The Lion King on Broadway soundtrack. “Empty Hearts,” by Alison Krauss. “God Moving Over the Face of the Waters,” by Moby, from the soundtrack of Heat, a.k.a. the best action movie ever made. “Roslin and Adama,” by the wonderful Bear McCreary, from the second season of Battlestar Galactica.

• The Humans Are Dead. Finally, as I have not yet taken up enough of your screen real estate, one more thing: an excellent song called “The Humans Are Dead” from Flight of the Conchords. Thanks, J, for the link! Note: contains language that might not be safe for the workplace.