Former Academic

A reformed academic now working in 'the real world'. Attempting to bring academic thinking to more subjects in life.

[formeracademic]

Fucked around a bit with post processing (By which I mean like a noob I cranked the saturation up and changed the hue to be more blue)

[formeracademic]

[formeracademic]

Zombiecide Black Plague Abomitroll

[formeracademic]

More Pics.

Loving my Nikon D3400

[formeracademic]

[tony-perfect]

[patspropaganda]

What an effort by White!

[formeracademic]

Just... Tonight man.

[reddragdiva]

Can I punch Nazis? I don’t know. Can you? I am capable of the act, yes. Then you should. May I? The answer to that is also yes.

Can I punch Nazis?

I don’t know. Can you?

I am capable of the act, yes.

Then you should.

May I?

The answer to that is also yes.

My mother told me that violence was never the answer.

My mother told me I was handsome; you can’t always listen to your mother.

What happened to letting the other guy throw the first punch?

Nazis don’t throw the first punch. Nazis burn the first Reichstag.

Aren’t the Left supposed to be the tolerant ones?

Supposed to be the smart ones, too, but they keep falling for that “I thought you were supposed to be the tolerant ones” horseshit.

What about dialogue?

Dialogue is for reasonable people acting in good faith. Dialogue is between two acceptable positions. “Taxes need to be raised” vs. “taxes need to be lowered” is grounds for dialogue. “Taxes need to be raised” vs. “Jews should be thrown in ovens” is grounds for a beating.

But isn’t this sinking to their level?

That depends. After you punch the Nazi, do you espouse the tenets of National Socialism?

No.

Then you’re better than a Nazi.

But doesn’t this just give the other side ammunition?

The other side in this argument are lying fucks who can twist any piece of information into a swastika-shaped balloon animal if you engage them in good faith; lacking a piece of information, they’ll just make shit up. Might as well punch a Nazi.

What about peace, love, and understanding?

Great goals, and once we get rid of the Nazis we can get to work on them. All three are completely impossible when Nazis are about.

When should you punch a Nazi?

Whenever you get a chance. Preferably when they’re not looking.

What if they’re smaller than you?

Hit them with your fist.

What if they’re bigger?

Hit them with a bat.

Isn’t this a slippery slope?

After we defeated the Nazis in World War II, did we keep shooting people or did the troops come home and start having babies?

The second thing.

There you go. The slippery slope argument is nine times out of ten bullshit. Human beings are good with slippery slopes: we build stairs.

What if you think you’re punching a Nazi, but you just hit a white guy with a shitty haircut?

Run.

What should you do if you hit a Nazi?

You should run then, too. Don’t get me wrong: punching Nazis is still illegal. We’re discussing morality.

But I don’t want to punch anyone.

Then get off your duff, mister, and give aid and support to the boys on the front lines. We’re all in this together. Again.

[formeracademic]

Does this pertain to anyone who espouses Stalinst or Maoist style communism? if not, why?

Asking for a friend.

[formeracademic]

tumblr: [pornbot x] is following you!

me, ruthlessly slamming “block user”: no they ain’t

-------

And that is where we differ.

[druidstone]

[mitchrrrr-deactivated20171203]

The Ghost Fret is such a fucking beautiful guitar, looks and sound @chapmanguitars @RobChapmanMusic

[buffyboleyn]

Fandom + Aesthetic | Archer (part 1) | (part 2) 

[wondersmith-and-sons]

Every year May 25th comes around and every year I have the need to put into words just why this book stayed with me for so long. But mostly it comes down to this: despite Night Watch’s sudden shift to a darker, heavier dark tone, it avoids being unnecessarily cruel to its characters just for the sake of plot. And of course, this is true of all the Discworld books, people striving to be better, to do better, but I think it’s significant in context of how dark this book is - especially since going by chronological reading order, this is the bleakest book we encounter up until this point.

This Ankh-Morpork that we’re submerged in is so alien at that point in her timeline, it’s gruesome and cruel and oppressive because it’s under a gruesome, cruel and oppressive tyrant. Yet despite that, there is still kindness in the heart of the book - it values old Vimes’ mercy and young Sam’s innocence, it values the fact that Vimes wants to avoid undue violence, to save as many as he can, and shield people from the tyranny for as long as he can.

It’s such an emotionally charged book and there is a lot of darkness in the story itself- a blood-thirsty serial killer, power-hungry men, ruthless paranoia, and the awful, inhumane underbelly of a regime - but where most other books would have so, it avoids traumatizing its characters just to establish that. Darker shifts in tone so often entails that the narrative doles out meaningless suffering and trauma just establish itself Night Watch ultimately avoids that, because it uses other means to make the text feel heavy and oppressive. Part of it is from the plot itself, in that Vimes knows what happens behind closed doors, he know what Swing is capable of and the knowledge of that threat is high-risk enough to let readers know of the stakes.

The main emotional conflict instead comes from Vimes battling with himself, reconciling with wanting to go home versus, well, Sam Vimes being Sam Vimes, which means doing his best at saving everyone, history, timeline and causality be damned. We know that young Sam will become cynical and bitter and drunk somewhere down the line, we know that half the Night Watchmen will die, we know that the city will remain cruel despite this Hail Mary attempt at revolution. Which is why the narrative is so intent on telling us that Vimes’ kindness matters - in mentoring young Sam, in getting the prisoners off the Hurry-Up Wagon, in preventing undue riots and undue brutality, in keeping the fighting away from Barricade as long as possible. The city’s going to hell in a hand basket, might as well make people’s lives easier.

Vimes can’t save Ankh-Morpork from history taking its due course, but the powerful emotional catharsis is seeing him coming to the decision to try and save everyone anyway – simply because he can’t envision himself not doing it. So he digs his heels in and makes whatever difference he can in the moment.

Because Night Watch in an inevitable tragedy - only one of the two stories can have a happy ending and in order for Sam Vimes to go back to the present, to his wife and his son and his Watch and his city, the revolution has to fail or else that timeline ceases to exist. There is no way for him to save both his men and his future but he’ll be damned if it doesn’t try - he wouldn’t be Sam Vimes otherwise. Every time it I re-read it still feels like he’s that close to succeeding.

It could have so easily been grimdark and ~gritty~ but ultimately it avoids because it centres on a few basic themes that forms the core in the story. The heart of it is about camaraderie of a handful of men too weird and incompetent and ugly, the tentative hope in the uprising, and the sheer bloody determination of Sam Vimes’ refusal to give up on the people around him.

[mnamosyna]

don’t put your trust in revolutions. they always come around again.   that’s why they’re called revolutions.

                                                                 in memory of                         Tʜᴇ Pᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ’s Rᴇᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ ᴏғ Tʀᴇᴀᴄʟᴇ Mɪɴᴇ Rᴏᴀᴅ                                                                         and                                Tʜᴇ Gʟᴏʀɪᴏᴜs Tᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-Fɪғᴛʜ ᴏғ Mᴀʏ 

[thesuperheroesnetwork]

The Best of Team Cap on Texts From Superheroes (No Spoilers)

                Keep reading

[kedreeva]

How to Survive a trip to IKEA

Never go alone- bring a partner. Travel in pairs

Before entering, ensure that someone not entering knows you are going in, and when you expect to be out

Before entering, determine the cause of your mission- your mission objective. Bookcase? Couch? Oven? Meatballs? Figure it out

Upon entering, locate The Path

Do not disengage from The Path until you have reached your mission destination. Many have been lost forever to the wilds of IKEA by not obeying this. Very few are ever located again by the sparse store employees.

Upon reaching your mission destination, you may disengage from The Path ONLY when accompanied by your partner (physical contact should be maintained- ie, holding hands, holding shirt sleeve, both holding an end of a rope, etc)

When you disengage from The Path to acquire the data for your mission objective (ie, the item number for the bookcase, couch, meatballs, etc), it becomes your partner’s responsibility to maintain visual contact with The Path. Much like weeping angel statues, The Path will move if not actively being watched. This will strand you and your partner in the wilds of IKEA, so ensure you choose a partner wisely.

Upon acquiring the mission objective data (ie the item number), navigate back to The Path. You may disengage physical contact with your partner once you have safely returned to The Path

Do not leave The Path again. It will naturally end at the warehouse/stock section. This is a long, huge hall with many branches.

At the entrance of the warehouse section, acquire a cart if necessary. Using your item coordinates, locate your mission objective. Do not leave the main hallway except for the branch where your item is located. Like The Path, the wilds of IKEA sometimes sneak up on travelers that wander the warehouse section

Once your item has been loaded, head to the check out section. Do not touch anything in the boxes along the way. They appear to be full of candles or stuffed animals or useful kitchenware; it is a ruse. They are carnivorous.

After checking out, exit to the loading area. Load your item, and leave.

Do not look in your rearview mirror as you leave. It shouldn’t pursue you if you don’t look back.

[theoldfuzzybooks]

#all good advice but it should be noted that The Partner should not be a significant other#IKEA eats relationships as snacks and is a customary test in Sweden prior to marriage#this is part of the sambo courtship ritual#often involving bookshelves or an entertainment unit  (x)

[charlottec21]

Take as many of the tiny pencils they leave out, show it to your friends and loved ones as evidence that you survived the IKEA 

[formeracademic]

Not to be a party pooper, but I never understood this trope, IKEA is crowded sure, but it’s not uniquely bad in my experience. 

[fuckyeahbehindthescenes]

Tommy Wiseau was confused about the differences between 35 mm film and high-definition video so he decided to shoot the entire film in both formats simultaneously using a custom-built apparatus that housed both cameras side-by-side and required two crews to operate. (x)

The Room (2003)

[southern-sheepdog-deactivated20]

americans are so particular about your silly moon landings i doubt you even realise that the only reason you got there before the soviets is because you stole german technology

…and your point is?

[schuetzengrabenmints-deactivate]

Soviets had German scientists too, this argument doesn’t work.

[leadthefuckingway-deactivated20]

Fuckboys are just bitter we got there first

[southern-sheepdog-deactivated20]

[formeracademic]

There are two types of countries in this world, ones that use metric, and ones that have planted a flag on the moon.