But why should we?

Joe. My. God has posted on the subject of gay culture fading away to a more heteronormative view of the world. As noted by the author of the quote, some LGBT people sees this as a fair trade-off. I say "oh fuck no!"

I understand where people would say that the assimilation of LGBT culture into the mainstream culture is a good thing. We have been fighting for our rights to be viewed as normal people and normal citizens. We want to show people that we are harmless and productive members of society. Most of us are!

But that doesn't mean we should lose our culture. The very thought makes me think of all the forced assimilation that Native Americans went through. Or the Aborigines. Or Asian Americans. Native Americans were force into a European imposed hegemony. They lost traditional culture. Where one culture was more egalitarian in their treatment of sexes and gender, the hegemony made sure they reflected their ideals about sex and gender. This is what worries me about the assimilation of LGBT culture into the mainstream; The will lose something that could be valuable later on. Furthermore, it implies a superiority of one culture and one group over another. Asian Americans were seen as "model minorities" because they assimilated faster and fitted into the the Western ideals of how proper people should act. If LGBT culture were to do the same, it would be like admitting that the fundies are culture is better. As I've put in my Southeast Asian culture class, we are internalizing the colonialism, making the struggle for autonomy all for naught.

Mind you that I'm not cultural relativist. Practice that are detrimental to society as a whole should be done away with ("honor" killings, burning witches, headhunting, institutionalized sexism, and things like that.) Still, I don't see how being a diva or dressing in fabulous colours make you a determent to society. In the end I think we should not seek to erase LGBT culture for a normative view. Instead it should be a piece of the picture like a part of a grand mosaic. So be productive, be normal, but be a flaming diva if you want to be too.

Haegeum

Ethnography

Here is a modern Apache person. The reason I chose this photo is because I want to question our perception of indigenous people. In our society, we tend to look at indigenous people as archaic and outside of time. This is false. Indigenous people are, in fact, contemporay people.

Here is another indigenous group, the Ainu:

Random Model: Joel

Random Model: Hugh Plummer

Gisaeng and Geisha: Then and now

Notice that modern portayals of Geisha and Gisaeng tends to emmulate western notions of orientalism and the hyper-feminization of Asian women.

Random Model: Nick Youngquest

I'm not dead

Just hella busy. I've been doing school relate stuff and haven't had the time or the will to update regularly. I've also started doing Native American beadworks.

Balloons

I've been playing Pokémon Platinum. One of the pokémon is a ghost creature called Drifloon. It's supposed to be a balloon animal of some sort.

Balloons were originally made to be instruments of science, where one could research weather patterns. It's still used to some extant but it's being phased out due to more efficient methods. Balloons have since been used for transportation, decoration, entertainment and even medicine. There are now even balloon art, which is a form of non-permanent sculpture.

Balloons are made out of a number of materials ranging from rubber to polycholorprene. Balloons are popular with children, and is ubiquitous with celebrations. They do, however, pose many problems. Airborne balloons can easily become pollutants as the material they are made off are not easily degradable. They pose a danger to wildlife. For children, balloons are suitable only for a certain age range due to choking hazards.

Ube macapuno cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup ube (purple yam), cooked and finely grated
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup corn syrup
7 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup white sugar
6 drops red food color
6 drops blue food coloring
1 (12 ounce) jar macapuno (coconut preserves)

1 cup evaporated milk, chilled
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 drop violet food coloring

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line bottoms of 3 - 9 inch pans with parchment paper, but do not grease. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Place grated ube in a large bowl. Mix together 3/4 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla; gradually blend into ube until smooth. Blend in corn syrup, egg yolks, and oil. Beat in flour mixture until smooth; set aside. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar, then red and blue food coloring, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center of cake bounces back when lightly tapped. Invert pans on a wire rack and let cool upside down. When cool, run a knife around the edges to loosen cake from pans. Fill between layers with coconut preserves, then frost top and sides with butter icing.
To make Butter Icing: Combine evaporated milk and 3/4 cup sugar. set aside. Cream butter until light and fluffy; gradually add sugar mixture, and continue beating to desired spreading consistency. Add food color, one drop at a time until desired tint is achieved.

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Archäologie

Dvaravati was an ethnic Mon kingdom occupying what is now much of central Thailand.

Random Model: Stephen Bamber

Stars

You know, people make these look so easy. After all, it's just one strip of paper being folded repeatedly and then crushed in the end.

Whenever I make them, 2 out of 5 end up perfect looking while the rest look like a wad paper ball.

I thought about it, and these objects wouldn't survive the archaeological records. At least not here, where there is enough moisture to destroy them. If we were a culture without writing, our knowledge of how to make origami would have to be transmitted orally, and it would join the ranks of the so-called "folk art". (It's a loaded term because of the association of class.)

Now living in a technologically advance society, we can easily access information on how to make these little stars.

I use these as sentimental gifts. It's perfect for little decorative things. Of course, some times the paper can be expensive.

Archäologie

Sometimes it's easy to assume that a large tomb is a that of a king or a male ruler. Because of our current culture, we tend to associate the ruling class with men. It's all part of our blindness to the privileges we give to masculinity. However, through out history, men did not have the monopoly on power.
The Silla Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period of Korea, was one of the countries vying for supremacy on the Korean peninsula. It's was largely thought that the tombs left behind by Silla was of male rulers. However one of the tomb has been argue to be a female co-ruler based on historical accounts as well as the images and goods left in the tombs.
The assumption that the tombs of the rulers were all male is an example of how our ideology can bias archaeology. We assumed that the Silla rulers were all men because we falsely correlated power with masculinity.

Archäologie Lagen

Miruksa was the largest Buddhist temple of the Baekje Kingdom (one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea)

Random Model: Ivan Scannel

Can't wait for the season finally

I've been following Dong Yi for awhile. It's been building up for me (even though at this point most people lose interests because the main character, Choi Dong Yi, is no longer a struggling maid). Perhaps that has something to do with my fascination with political intrigue.

Dunce Vs. Dunce

I'm not a fan of pointing out "schism" because it's a double edge sword. If you can point out the right's schism then they can point out the left's schism. No movement is monolithic. Still, it's refreshing to see idiots making an ass out of themselves in thinking the right supports them. Attention hog and authoritarian Michael Lucas got to an argument with Ann Coulter (a person who doesn't need my introduction). Lucas is generally right wing, supporting various conservative politicians. He has a great cognitive dissonance in thinking that the right is somehow gay friendly (like all Homosexual Conservative). I have no sympathy for him and treat him as a horrid enemy of social rights. Well it turns out he and Coulter don't agree and it turns into a shout fight with both sides huffing and puffing without substance. It's funny because Homocons don't seem to grasp the concept that the American right doesn't want them there. They are outsiders in the conservative movement.

Anyways, Lucas should stay with what he's good at (which is directing and producing high budget porn) and keep his simple little mind out of politics.

Random Model: Henry Seroeyen