Comic books embrace gay characters as readers hope it’s just the beginning
Amanda Holpuch, The Guardian, on gay characters in comics:
This year, finally, the industry embraced [gay] readers as mainstream publishers offered prominent gay plot lines. Archie Comics’ first gay character, Kevin Keller, was married in January; Marvel’s X-man Northstar was married in May; and DC Comics reintroduced the Green Lantern as gay in June.
Great piece.
Freezing Human Eggs for In Vitro Fertilization No Longer Experimental Procedure
Margaret Warner on Friday’s episode of PBS NewsHour:
Doctors started freezing and then thawing eggs for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, years ago, but in very few cases, and the procedure has been considered experimental.
Today, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine shifted its position, saying the process shouldn’t be labeled experimental any longer. It said babies born from frozen eggs are as healthy as those from fresh eggs. But the committee said the procedure should be limited in its use.
The new recommendation will make this available for coverage on insurance plans that don’t cover experimental procedures. Warner interviews a doctor who co-chaired the committee and a director of the Center for Genetics and Society on why the committee recommended limitations and impact on society and the fertility industry.
Bucky Sinister, writing in The Bold Italic:
That’s when I got it. What is there to do sober? Everything there is to do drunk, it turns out. I had no idea that people went to dinner without drinks, went to movies sober, and saw bands without being high. I really thought that everyone who wasn’t a fundamentalist drank as much as I did. Not only could I do things sober, there were no negative consequences, and I actually remembered what I had done that night. […]
There was another big difference I hadn’t noticed before: my attention span. Drunk Me could stay on the same barstool for eight hours, from after work to last call. Sober Me needed more stimulation. I went back to the comedy clubs, poetry readings, and rock shows, but often I could hit two in one night, rather than being so blitzed after one that the second was impossible. Still, I’d often get restless upon entering a venue, places where I’d encounter bad memory ghosts or a bartender who’d once told me to leave.
Really great piece, read all of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyYmKa85uUU
I don’t think I’ve talked about it much on here, but I’m a fan of electronic music. Especially stuff that’s a bit out there and weird. So with that in mind, here’s “Automaton” by Lorn.
Supreme Court to rule on first-sale doctrine of foreign-made goods
Jennifer Waters writing on a case on the United States Supreme Court’s docket this year for MarketWatch:
At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine in copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture, as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those products.
Under the doctrine, which the Supreme Court has recognized since 1908, you can resell your stuff without worry because the copyright holder only had control over the first sale.
…
That’s being challenged now for products that are made abroad, and if the Supreme Court upholds an appellate court ruling, it would mean that the copyright holders of anything you own that has been made in China, Japan or Europe, for example, would have to give you permission to sell it.
This could be pretty frightening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-BMtPp9HCQ
Divine Fits (made up of members of Spoon and Wolf Parade) cover Frank Ocean’s “Lost”. Highly relevant to my interests and yours too, I hope.
Picasso, Matisse paintings stolen in Dutch raid
RTÉ News report of something which, I have to emphasize, happened in real life:
Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and other famous modern artists have been stolen from a museum in Rotterdam.
…
The works stolen were Picasso’s “Tte d’Arlequin”, Matisse’s “La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune”, Monet’s “Waterloo Bridge, London” and “Charing Cross Bridge, London”, Gauguin’s “Femme devant une fentre ouverte”, De Haan’s “Autoportrait” and Freud’s “Woman with Eyes Closed”.
Jop Ubbens, chairman of Christie’s in Amsterdam, told Reuters the paintings would be worth “more than several million euros,” with the Picasso the best known of the stolen works.
Thefts like this don’t happen very often, because of how difficult it is to actually sell paintings as famous as these. Also, because real life is not a heist film.
The Two Teams Searching for Planets Orbiting Alpha Centauri
Speaking of Lee Billings, here’s another piece from him about Alpha Centauri. This time it’s a long form profile in Seed Magazine of the two teams that have been searching for planets orbiting Alpha Centauri. Really great work, keep your eye on this Billings guy, readers.
Guided by Voices, man. This is exactly what makes rock music so wonderful.