tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post850098247627774687..comments2024-03-26T01:10:13.720+00:00Comments on Teach Me Tonight: Popular Culture Association Annual Conference, 2008E. M. Selingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-23466486193235181532008-03-24T02:48:00.000+00:002008-03-24T02:48:00.000+00:00*evil mole grin*<I>*evil mole grin*</I>talpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-86220488224087017922008-03-24T00:04:00.000+00:002008-03-24T00:04:00.000+00:00The Mole will have her little joke. Sigh.The Mole will have her little joke. Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-51533981097231273252008-03-23T23:07:00.000+00:002008-03-23T23:07:00.000+00:00I wonder how many homes have both a Priapic gnome ...I wonder how many homes have both a Priapic gnome and a <A HREF="http://www.snopes.com/luck/stjoseph.asp" REL="nofollow">buried St Joseph</A>. Perhaps some of the holes in gardens are due not to moles but to clashing gods and saints.<BR/><BR/>Chin up, Laura. You can have pointy brackets if you call them less-than and greater-than symbols:<BR/><BR/>&lt; /disconsolate &gt;<BR/>< /disconsolate >Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-12490260768321805902008-03-23T08:25:00.000+00:002008-03-23T08:25:00.000+00:00You really ought to do it, Tigress. Now that you'...You really ought to do it, Tigress. Now that you're married, you'll be wanting to start a family....talpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-61942482362722227542008-03-23T00:05:00.000+00:002008-03-23T00:05:00.000+00:00I think it's a bit of a stretch, frankly, from eit...I think it's a bit of a stretch, frankly, from either Priapus or herms to garden gnomes, not least because there's a kind of 2000-year hiatus... However, Priapus did watch over gardens and other cultivation, as well as harbours, while herms, as Tal has mentioned, protected boundaries. Herms were not necessarily ithyphallic, but Priapus normally was.<BR/><BR/>I often considered, myself, that it might be good to have a small garden Priapus to ensure that the plants grew well, but I have never got round to it, I fear.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-8988836753780832072008-03-22T23:46:00.000+00:002008-03-22T23:46:00.000+00:00I believe you are actually thinking of the herm, o...I believe you are actually thinking of the <B>herm,</B> or <B>herma</B>--the boundary markers with prominent genitalia and a head of Hermes on top. Or rather, since you are quoting Wiki, that it's a better source for the garden gnome than the one given.<BR/><BR/>If you put that cookie into your computer (use the CD slot for cookie delivery), it's going to get the works all gooey.talpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-57116663204967726132008-03-22T23:37:00.000+00:002008-03-22T23:37:00.000+00:00The drawing of Pubert the Clam (and of his metamor...<I>The drawing of Pubert the Clam (and of his metamorphosed form as a winged phallus) is mine by the way</I><BR/><BR/>Is his cloak supposed to look a bit like a magic carpet? It's the pattern on it that gave me that idea, and the fact that he's obviously quite a magical sort of geoduck.<BR/><BR/><I>I also published quite a successful book on Graeco-Roman erotic art many years ago</I><BR/><BR/>That made me try to remember the name of the god with the huge phallus, so I ended up at <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priapus" REL="nofollow">this page, about Priapus</A> and there it says that "It has been suggested by some scholars that the modern popular garden gnome is a descendant of Priapus." I wonder how long it'll be before I can look at a garden gnome without remembering that.Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-44739703885047640402008-03-22T23:12:00.000+00:002008-03-22T23:12:00.000+00:00"She's got an interest in the depiction of animals..."She's got an interest in the depiction of animals in art, hasn't she?"<BR/><BR/>Well, yes; but I also published quite a successful book on Graeco-Roman erotic art many years ago. The drawing of Pubert the Clam (and of his metamorphosed form as a winged phallus) is mine by the way. ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-22667111883981275212008-03-22T12:38:00.000+00:002008-03-22T12:38:00.000+00:00That Pubert the Disco Clam is the most obscene yet...That <A HREF="http://www.elizabethlowell.com/boardpics/jhg_dancinggeoduck.gif" REL="nofollow">Pubert the Disco Clam</A> is the most obscene yet humorous looking <A HREF="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Geoduck_clam%2C_Panopea_abrupta_or_Panope_generosa_.jpg" REL="nofollow">geoduck</A> I've seen (albeit I haven't seen many pictures of geoducks).<BR/><BR/>Katsushika Hokusai's "<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_the_Fisherman's_Wife" REL="nofollow">The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife</A>" (1820) is interesting. According to what I've been able to find out using Google this <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tentacle_rape" REL="nofollow">interest in tentacles</A> was <A HREF="http://www.mongrel.ie/issue23/jul06pp12.php" REL="nofollow">revived by Toshio Maeda</A> to get round certain legal prohibitions. As he said <A HREF="http://www.bigempire.com/sake/manga1.html" REL="nofollow">in one interview</A>:<BR/><BR/><I>At that time [pre-Urotsuki Doji], it was illegal to create a sensual scene in bed. I thought I should do something to avoid drawing such a normal sensual scene. So I just created a creature. [His tentacle] is not a [penis] as a pretext. I could say, as an excuse, this is not a [penis], this is just a part of the creature. You know, the creatures, they don't have a gender. A creature is a creature. So it is not obscene - not illegal.<BR/><BR/>Drawing intercourse was, and is, illegal in Japan. That is our big headache: to create such a sensual scene. We are always using any type of trick.</I><BR/><BR/>---<BR/><BR/><I>Can you tell I've spent too much time in the company of the Tigress?</I><BR/><BR/>She's got an interest in the depiction of animals in art, hasn't she?<BR/><BR/><I>I enjoyed the were-clam piece so much that you may now come out of your room, Laura, and have a cookie</I><BR/><BR/>Thanks! It can join all <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie" REL="nofollow">the others</A> I've got stored on my computer.Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-15603978634928661152008-03-22T02:23:00.000+00:002008-03-22T02:23:00.000+00:00Sandra: Your problem is that you don't know any ra...<B>Sandra:</B> Your problem is that you don't know any rats who know how to drive a pumpkin with a stick shift.talpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-75650210786342713252008-03-22T02:22:00.000+00:002008-03-22T02:22:00.000+00:00Enjoyed reading the were-clam piece and have some ...Enjoyed reading the were-clam piece and have some comments:<BR/><BR/>Snakes: I know of one fantasy novel in which the World-Snake is the hero's mother; but he's basically a year-king type.<BR/><BR/>Have I got a were-clam for you! Meet Pubert the Disco Clam:<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/23r456<BR/><BR/>(He sometimes slips into a phone booth and emerges in costume as SuperD!ck, a crime-fighting winged phallus.)<BR/><BR/>And there is a genre of Japanese erotic art showing women having sex with octopi:<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2rrgbs<BR/><BR/>Can you tell I've spent too much time in the company of the Tigress?<BR/><BR/>Fredric Brown wrote a short-short story about a man who fell madly in love with a beautiful mermaid and went through untold suffering to become a merman. Just as he was ready to consummate their passion, he noticed that they were both fish from the waist down; and she informed him that she would now lay her eggs on the ocean floor and he could swim over them to deposit his sperm....<BR/><BR/>Ignore Leviticus: It also claims moles are unclean.<BR/><BR/>Sophie is the heroine of Diana Wynne Jones's HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE. In CASTLE IN THE AIR, she is the secondary character who has her child as a kitten. Poor Morgan is SO frustrated when the spells are all lifted and he has to be a helpless baby instead of a lively and adventurous kitten!<BR/><BR/>I enjoyed the were-clam piece so much that you may now come out of your room, Laura, and have a cookie<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2fhc2vtalpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-75210053106801527072008-03-21T18:26:00.000+00:002008-03-21T18:26:00.000+00:00Sarah & Eric, lucky, lucky you! Why do I feel like...Sarah & Eric, lucky, lucky you! Why do I feel like Cinderella left behind sitting among the ashes of the cold, cold hearth ... *sniff*Sandra Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496019392789508611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-33287087780606435692008-03-21T10:11:00.000+00:002008-03-21T10:11:00.000+00:00Laura, go to your room.OK, I'll stomp off and sit ...<I>Laura, go to your room.</I><BR/><BR/>OK, I'll stomp off and sit grumpily in my room, waiting for the others to post about how much fun they're having at the conference.<BR/><BR/>{digruntled pout}But really, I don't think it was fair of Eric to post something with the word "homoerotic" in one sentence and "[hali]but cheeks" in the next. Particularly not after the long discussion we had last year at TMT about <A HREF="http://teachmetonight.blogspot.com/2007/06/were-clams-and-other-weired.html" REL="nofollow">were-clams</A>.{/disgruntled pout}<BR/><BR/>And I wanted to have my disgruntled pout between pointy brackets, but Blogger wouldn't let me have them! It's so unfair!Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-37014568490152988352008-03-21T04:41:00.000+00:002008-03-21T04:41:00.000+00:00Laura, go to your room.Laura, go to your room.talpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-36098691548103347752008-03-20T14:37:00.000+00:002008-03-20T14:37:00.000+00:00I was wondering if "halibut cheeks" was a new euph...I was wondering if "halibut cheeks" was a new euphemism, spawned from the mixing of thoughts about the homoerotic romance panel and a lot of organic beer. I hadn't quite got round to working out what it might be a euphemism <I>for</I> when I decided that perhaps I ought to resort to Google. Now I know that the truth is considerably more prosaic than anything I might have imagined.<BR/><BR/>It sounds like you're having a great time already.Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-44721669901591343982008-03-20T13:15:00.000+00:002008-03-20T13:15:00.000+00:00Hi, everyone! The dinner's not off, but delayed, ...Hi, everyone! The dinner's not off, but delayed, or so I hope (I'll check in with Sarah and confer at the morning panel in a couple of hours). My hope is that we can go out after the homoerotic romance panel on Thursday: an 8 pm dinner, which isn't outrageously late, or at least an 8 pm get-together. (Glen Thomas and I found a great local brewry--organic, natch!--and tapas bar last night. The halibut cheeks were particularly fine.)E. M. Selingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-70746662058581853822008-03-20T02:27:00.000+00:002008-03-20T02:27:00.000+00:00What I want to know is how Sarah managed to get th...What I want to know is how Sarah managed to get the 15th president of the United States to return from the grave to participate in a romance panel!talpiannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978075304795724185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-37533933432180039422008-03-20T01:45:00.000+00:002008-03-20T01:45:00.000+00:00Laura, I think the dinner's off. That's during a ...Laura, I think the dinner's off. That's during a panel on Thursday. Or two, actually, so we're probably going to have to change it to something else. But that's up to Eric.Sarah S. G. Frantzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12806353006812086825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-47768653533118239372008-03-19T22:05:00.000+00:002008-03-19T22:05:00.000+00:00One other item which is mentioned in the schedule ...One other item which is mentioned in the schedule is this:<BR/><BR/>Romance Fiction Dinner: All participants in the PCA & ACA conference are invited to join us for dinner at a local well-known restaurant.<BR/>Friday, March 21, 5:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.<BR/>Meet in Hotel Lobby<BR/>Organizers: Eric Selinger & Darcy Martin<BR/><BR/>I'm assuming that's the hotel lobby of the San Francisco Marriott. Would that be right? Would someone who hadn't registered for the conference be able to go to that? And if yes, would they need to let Eric know in advance?Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-40573633577338277112008-03-19T21:31:00.000+00:002008-03-19T21:31:00.000+00:00That's a pretty amazing coincidence. I am currentl...That's a pretty amazing coincidence. I am currently down the street in San Fran getting ready for the CALICO conference also running Thursday - Saturday, but this conference is about language teaching. Maybe I'll have to skip out on a couple teaching sessions and go get a little pop culture instead.... Registration is overrated. I'm sure PCA doesn't really care about that sort of thing.pacatruehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04125048243775811714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-59153800900615564432008-03-19T17:37:00.000+00:002008-03-19T17:37:00.000+00:00Gah! I am *so* simmering in envy -- ooh.Have fun!...Gah! I am *so* simmering in envy -- ooh.<BR/><BR/>Have fun! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-1615744255043744542008-03-19T16:47:00.000+00:002008-03-19T16:47:00.000+00:00I noted that Alicia Rasley is giving a talk on tra...I noted that Alicia Rasley is giving a talk on transformation in Austen and Kinsale. She wrote some lovely trad Regencies a while back. If you see her, please tell her that at least one reader misses her writing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-73157546431310680742008-03-19T15:13:00.000+00:002008-03-19T15:13:00.000+00:00Sarah, that's an amazing program. I'm jealous and ...Sarah, that's an amazing program. I'm jealous and I'm thinking how wonderful it would be if RWA had a lot of similar panels at our annual conference instead of duplicating how-tos. I'd love to see us discussing some of those topics.<BR/><BR/>And I love the phrase "recontructing the bodice." In some way that's the slogan for a mind-set revolution!<BR/><BR/>Jo BeverleyJo Beverleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058804206824700945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-31590029772890246622008-03-19T13:41:00.000+00:002008-03-19T13:41:00.000+00:00Wow. What a neat conference. Can't wait to hear de...Wow. What a neat conference. Can't wait to hear details. Any way for non-attendees to download the handouts?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-63804908716916451152008-03-19T13:21:00.000+00:002008-03-19T13:21:00.000+00:00I am so jealous! I got to attend the conference w...I am so jealous! I got to attend the conference way back in the early 1990s when it was in my home town, and I had a total blast. I will await your reports.Victoria Janssenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01187455312410948529noreply@blogger.com