time and relative dimension in space

Here is one of my pet peeves: "This show [or book, or whatever] isn't sci-fi [or whatever genre] because [reason that essentially boils down to "I like it and I don't like sci-fi [or whatever genre]"]"

...clearly brackets are not one of my pet peeves.

This is an attitude, unfortunately, that I have encountered quite a lot. Sometimes it is dressed up in other reasons. "Firefly isn't sci-fi! There's no aliens!" ...aliens are not the defining quality of sci-fi. "Well, it's not sci-fi!" Why do you say that? "Because I like it! And I don't like sci-fi shows!"

That is not a reason.

It's still sci-fi.

I have heard this argument in other contexts than sci-fi, obviously. "It's not a kids' show, because I like it, and I'm not a kid." "It's not romance, I hate romance." "I hate musicals! ...that doesn't count, that's not really a musical."

How much would you laugh if someone told you, "Ugh, I hate baseball. The Red Sox don't play baseball! Because I hate baseball but I love the Sox so obviously they are not playing baseball." It's the same dumb justification. It's still baseball.

It's still science fiction, even if there's no aliens. It's still fantasy even if there aren't wizards swinging swords at dragons. It's still children's fiction even if there's not a tidy moral at the end. It's still Genre A even if it overlaps with Genre B, even if it doesn't have all of the trappings general-you associates with Genre A, even if you don't generally like Genre A but like this one particular example.

And in response to the most recent argument I have encountered: YES. IT IS STILL SCI-FI EVEN IF IT'S MORE FOCUSED ON THE CHARACTERS THAN THE TECH. THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE IT PARTICULARLY UNUSUAL SCI-FI.

I really don't know if this springs from genre snobbery (Genre A is inferior to this high-brow stuff that I like so this one thing I like that might be considered Genre A clearly isn't) or absolutism (I don't like Genre A! Ever! None of it! Therefore this one thing I like that might be considered Genre A clearly isn't) or just a misunderstanding of how genres work (This one thing doesn't have every last trope that I associate with Genre A so clearly it isn't!)

There was probably a more coherent ending to this rant, but I forgot what it is and I'm done ranting now, so...[/end]

...Really? Really?

...I don't even know, man. But it's FOX, and we all know how Fox deals with science fiction, amirite.


A vein in my left eyelid is spasming. It has been doing so for approx. 24 hours now and is really annoying. I googled it and just found a lot of advice to get more sleep (yeah, thanks, like I didn't already know my sleep patterns are inadequate but I CAN'T FIX THAT), drink less caffeine (hdu), and wait for it to go away on its own (...). You have failed me, Google.


I still need to watch this week's Being Human, but I don't want to do so while my eyelid is throbbing because I won't be able to pay the proper amount of attention. :( WAS IT EPIC? I BET IT WAS EPIC.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. We understand that gender is not binary, and intend to respect that understanding for our users.

At this time, the code you reference is not live on the site, and will not become so in the future. We know that you, and many other users, have serious concerns about any requirement to specify gender, so we'd like to take a moment to explain events and our position further.

The intention of this code was to change the sign-up process to include a field for the selection of gender; that the code would completely disable the "Unspecified" option at the same time was deemed unacceptable. While the code in question had gone to our beta (testing) server, it had not gone to our production server, and will not do so due to this problem. Furthermore, we'd like to clarify that code posted to the changelog community is not always final, as such code must then go through the beta testing process and can often be changed before actual implementation.

Additionally, some erroneous information has been spread regarding the potential public display of the gender field. We would like to clarify that gender is not currently publicly displayed on the profile, nor anywhere else on the site, and there are no plans to change this behavior.

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As long as the code is not going live, I will accept this as a victory.

WHAT THE HELL, TONY AWARDS.

I just...I...No, really. WHAT THE HELL.

It's not like I really expect brilliance or integrity from you. No, I understand you're an awards show and therefore it's all politics and money. BUT WHAT THE HELL?! No, guys, touring productions are not more important than the creative awards.

Dammit, watching to see Hunter win best book was one of the things I was most looking forward to this year and now you're taking that away from me?

To sum up: YOU SUCK.