YELLOW PERIL WEBLOG An ode to the fluorescent beauty in dog eyes, glistening noses, velvety eartips. Dedicated to the one & only fashion icon and female role model, Himitsu von Nobara-Ken.
This blog is maintained by Ainur Elmgren. See also my other blogs, about my comic GOLDENBIRD and SAUNAHONEY, in Finnish and Swedish (and occasionally German).
About Ainur Elmgren Age: a quarter of a century Sex: XX Gender: female Race: Against time Ethnicity: Allright, if you insist... 62,5% Finnish, 25% Mishär Tatar, 12,5% Kale (Finnish Gypsy). Citizen of Sweden. Horoscope:Pisces, year of the Goat Occupation: Ph.D. student at the Department of History, Lund University. Freelance cartoonist and illustrator. Writes for Bild & Bubbla magazine. Nourishment: rye bread, mediterranean yoghurt, piroshki, peremech, sushi, octopodes, honey, tea, wasabi, chocolate, halloumi, broccoli, vodka, avocado, natto, any combination of the above. Turnons:The 1920's, Orcs, Finns, Russia, Socialist memorabilia, helicopters, the Cthulhu mythos, chocolate, the German language, libraries and book shops, magazines with lots of colourful pictures, epic comics, Japanese clothing, swords, lots of pillows with tassels. Turnoffs: Racism, chauvinism (nationalist or gender-based), big capitalism, philistines, boors, bigots, McDonalds, fat-free yoghurt, missionaries (for any religion, ideology or music style). Friends: People with whom I can share a moment of silence, with a quirky sense of humour, a tolerant mind, a tough skin and a big heart. Doggies! Enemies: Intolerant, insecure people who pick on those who seem weaker. Fundamentalists of any colour and creed.
OLD-TURKIC DEITIES Rafael BEZERTINOV From his book TENGRIANIZM – RELIGION OF TÜRKS AND MONGOLS
Moon (Ai). Ancient Türks’ mythology regarded Moon as a daughter of Sky God Tengri and Earth. They perceived the goddess Moon dually: She frightened them and at the same time they loved Her.
The night is darkness, when the malicious spirits emerge from all holes. The rituals and hypnotic sessions of witches were always conducted according to the phases of the Moon. At night the illnesses amplified, causing more often deaths at this time. Robberies, murders are done mainly at night. On the other hand, the Türks trusted the magic force of the Moon. She was a sole night lantern. To please Moon those born during full moon were given names as such: Aisylu, Aituly, Ainir, Aizirek, Ainaz, etc. [or Ainur! - Ainur]
The three phases of the moon also had their signs. It was believed that at ‘ai naazy’ (new moon) the moon symbolized a young girl, pure and modest. At ‘ai toly’, ‘tuly ai’ (complete moon) Moon personified a mature woman – mother. In this period she is good-natured and favorable. At ‘ai karty’ (old moon) the Moon aged, became wise, but quarrelsome and malicious. Before death Moon reigned in absolutely dark night. In these three nights, it was believed, life and death meet together. The old Moon died, a new one was born, and together with Her a new life, new cycle, new round was born.
I found this interesting text in The Tatar Gazette. Read more about Tatars, a Turkic people, on my Tatarstan page.
First, a nice guy from Valdagno, north of Vicenza, who speaks a variation of the Veneto dialect/language.
Next, a talented young man imitating foreign accents in Italian. French, Dutch, Senegalese, American, British, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, German. I think the Romance accents are the best (love the contrast between Spanish and Portuguese!), what do you think?
I thought the previous result was pretty accurate. And this one, surprise surprise, feels quite accurate, too. Note: Each time you take the test, some questions might be different. Thus, you will get different results. I wonder how many alternatives they have?
You're Roots! by Alex Haley While almost everyone agrees that you're brilliant, no one knows quitehow to categorize you. Some say that you're a person with an amazing family tree. Somesay that you're just a darn good storyteller. Others say that you're both and don't muchcare where to draw the line. What is known is that your people have been through a greatnumber of trials and that you are where you are because of hard work. You have nothing tolose but your chains. Take the Book Quizat the Blue Pyramid.
You're The Guns of August! by Barbara Tuchman Though you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they really are. Nevertheless, you're always living in the past and have a hard time dealing with what's going on today. You're also far more focused on Europe than anywhere else in the world. A fitting motto for you might be "Guns do kill, but so can diplomats." Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.
From Racialicious. Obviously an American perspective, but interesting and relevant. My privileges are bold.
When you were in college:
If your father went to college, take a step forward. If your father finished college If your mother went to college If your mother finished college If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. If you were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (I should say I am, now!) If you had a computer at home If you had your own computer at home If you had more than 50 books at home If you had more than 500 books at home If were read children's books by a parent If you ever had lessons of any kind If you had more than two kinds of lessons (I don't know if cello counts, since it was financed by the Swedish school system, but I took riding lessons and had private tutoring in German when we moved to Germany) If the people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (when I appear in the media, I'm depicted positively!) If you had a credit card with your name on it If you have less than $5000 in student loans If you have no student loans If you went to a private high school If you went to summer camp If you had a private tutor If you have been to Europe (Born and bred in Europe! If that isn't privilege, I don't know what is!) If your family vacations involved staying at hotels If all of your clothing has been new and bought at the mall If your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them If there was original art in your house (my mother's!) If you had a phone in your room If you lived in a single family house (sometimes) If your parent own their own house or apartment (often) If you had your own room (after age 14, yes) If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course If you had your own cell phone in High School If you had your own TV in your room in High School If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline If you ever went on a cruise with your family (I don't think they count the party ferries between Finland and Sweden) If your parents took you to museums and art galleries If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.
I can think of a bunch of other privileges that I enjoyed, such as having family members of a different species and living in different countries. Anyway, the point o this little thought exercise is not to feel bad about your privileges or feel insulted, it is to reflect over how the circumstances that we grow up in influence our worldview, our position in life and our possibilities to make choices.
I visited the "Weihnukka" market (Weihnachten = German Christmas + Chanukka) with Turukhtan and bought a used book about Max Reinhardt. We also witnessed a nice ceremony by two young Australian (!) rabbis.
Everybody should know about this, so I will post this on all of my blogs. It took me a long night's googling to find, so I want to spread the word.
Yes, it is possible to HIDE COMMENTS ON YOUTUBE.
YouTube
recently "improved" their notoriously spam- and idiot-riddled comment
system by adding
a comment-rating feature, as well as a
drop-down menu that lets you choose if you want to view all comments,
those rated +10 points, those rated +5 points, those rated 0 or more,
-5 or more, or -10 or more. Now wait a minute - how the hell is this
division supposed to be useful? Who cares enough
about the comments? I sure as hell don't. The new system doesn't keep
spammers away, but it makes it a lot easier for idiots to spam, troll
and spout hate by sabotaging other people's discussions.
I don't go to YouTube for trolling social
interaction, I go there for content, so I choose the option "view
comments rated 10 or more". However, YouTube doesn't provide any way of
saving my settings. Each time when I return to the site, I have to risk
facing stupid comments under interesting videos, and even when I turn
off the comments, I can see the comment thread under the video frame.
Some people's nicknames alone should be spam-filtered. Luckily, there's
a solution. Note: It's for Firefox
users.
Step 1: Install the latest version of Greasemonkey,
a Firefox extension that helps you to use a lot of nifty little scripts
for your special internet needs.
Step 2: Go to userscripts.org and download No
YouNoobs. Restart Firefox. Presto!
I found this easy method thanks to plodding through a
boring Digg diskussion. I guess Digg has its
brights sides after all! Mashable has 12
more useful ideas on how to use Greasemonkey
to make YouTube work better.
