catch-all post

[kindkit]

1) It was National Coming Out Day today (technically yesterday now), which means it's the one year anniversary of my coming out as a trans man. And hey, one year later, I'm still trans! Hooray! (One of my issues has been the fear that I was somehow deceiving myself and would change my mind. I haven't, and I feel a lot more certain and comfortable in my identity than I did a year ago.)

2) I'm taking the GRE tomorrow (er, today, actually, starting in about 10 hours). Wish me luck. I'm less nervous than I was a couple of days ago, because in the meantime I've done respectably enough on the math section of a practice test. Looking forward to getting the damn thing over with and forgetting the Pythagorean Theorem all over again.

3) As the new television seasons begin in the US and the UK, I'm watching . . . old Australian comedy. The Doug Anthony All Stars, of course (here they are in The Big Gig [start at the top of the playlist on the right and scroll down], and here's a fantastic live performance [use the playlist again, but start with part 2, as Flacco is an acquired taste], and here are links to their surreal and amazing comedy/science fiction/fantasy show DAAS Kapital), and DAAS-related stuff like Good News Week (which is all over YouTube) and The Sideshow (ditto). Even the beautiful Tim Ferguson may not be enough to make me watch more than one episode of Funky Squad, alas, but I was oddly charmed by the episode of Don't Forget Your Toothbrush that I watched on YouTube. Tim in a pink suit thwacking cakes with a golf club and spraying the audience with the bits, what's not to love?

I've also been branching out beyond DAAS, mostly based on which Good News Week guests I like most (in no particular order: Fiona O'Loughlin, Josh Thomas, Jimeoin, Frank Woodley, Stephen K. Amos, Julia Morris). I started watching The Adventures of Lano and Woodley because I saw Colin Lane talking about his split from comedy partner Frank Woodley after 20 years of working together as though he'd just gone through a heartwrenching divorce; yes, I do pick shows based on the likely level of male/male homoeroticism, and yes, Lano and Woodley has so far quite fulfillled my expectations. It's not my usual style of comedy--I like verbal humor best--but the guys' love/hate/tolerance is adorable, and Frank Woodley in particular does physical comedy so well that I can see the art in it.

Oh, how I hope one or two of you lot will start watching this stuff too, so that we can talk about it! And also so that there can be DAAS fanfic for Yuletide! *makes puppy eyes*

Comments

[lilacsigil]

They filmed some of Funky Squad (I have no idea how much) at Monash University over summer holidays while I was working there. If you see a really tall, really flat, really ugly concrete building (The Menzies Building, aka the Ming Wing) othat looks like it's about to fall over, wave to me!

I'm glad you're enjoying all the Aussie comedy, but the RPF aspects are really not my thing, especially as I went to school with one prominent comedian and he's still doing the same jokes now. Do you know ryttu3k? She's an Australia (currently in the US for one semester) who attends a lot of Good News Week tapings. (She also talks about The Legend of Zelda a lot, but Aussie comedy pops up every now and then.)

ETA: Oh, and the D-Generation! You might like them.

And good luck with the GRE!

[kindkit]

I think that may be the first episode of Funky Squad, which is set at a university (and is also the only episode I've seen). I think Monash University may have been mentioned in the credits.

I totally understand not being into RPF, especially if it might involve someone you've actually met. Although with DAAS it wouldn't have to be RPF, because stories could be set in the fictional DAAS Kapital universe. I'm terribly curious about who you went to school with, too, if you cared to whisper the name in my ear send me a PM.

I've seen ryttu3k's name around, here and on LJ, but I don't know her. I envy her the Good News Week tapings, though! (It may be just as well that there's a lot of ocean between me and Paul McDermott. My crush is bad enough without actually being in the same room with him.)

[st_aurafina]

*is utterly fascinated by a non Aussie being into Aussie comedy*

Maybe you'll like The D Generation? Or Front Line - a fake news show, very smarmy and sly humour. (Can't quite remember if there's any degree of homophobia in these - it's a university level of humour, so tread carefully.)

Or The Chaser? It's a different group of people, and much later than these, but I know there's a pretty vibrant Aussie wing of the Fake News RPF thanks to it.

[kindkit]

I got the Aussie comedy bug at a young-ish age, actually--when I was in my mid-twenties I had an Australian friend who got me into TISM (he even wrote up footnotes so I would understand the Australian references!). TISM and DAAS have a pretty similar style, and if that hadn't been the dark days before YouTube I suspect he might've shown me DAAS as well. So I guess the interest is just re-emerging after a period of latency.

I'm not actually a fan of fake news as such, because a lot of it hits my embarrassment squick too hard. I don't know if you've seen The Daily Show, but I can never stand to watch the interviews on that, and The Chaser seems like it's the same kind of thing. I'll check out The D Generation, though!

[st_aurafina]

Front Line isn't fake news in the sense that The Chaser is - it's fiction, and it pokes fun at the industry of news television. If you like The D Generation, most of the cast carries over from there into Front Line.

No, I can't handle The Daily Show, either. I appreciate that it exists, but I can't watch it for more than a few minutes at a time. I guess The Chaser was easier for me to watch, probably because culturally, we're good at taking the piss, so the target is a bit smaller, if you know what I mean.

[kindkit]

Front Line isn't fake news in the sense that The Chaser is

Ah, okay, that's good to know.

culturally, we're good at taking the piss, so the target is a bit smaller

I'm kind of amazed that politicians choose to appear on GNW, which can be a good deal sharper and less irritatingly "balanced" in its political commentary than The Daily Show. What I find painful about TDS are the interview segments at the beginning, when they talk to some poor idiot who doesn't realize that TDS is satirical and tries to respond seriously to ridiculous questions. Seeing a professional politician skewered doesn't bother me nearly as much, and anyway, show guests seem to be handled pretty gently on TDS, even when they're utter right-wing shitheads.

[kangeiko]

The GRE is super-easy, you will ace it with no problems at all, I know it! *waves pompoms and jumps up and down*

[kindkit]

Thank! I've done it before, actually, but that was many years ago, and my math knowledge has eroded a lot since then.

[pixiestikks]

See, I would write DAAS fic, if I didn't feel totally uncomfortable with the idea of writing RPF, and if I weren't terrible at writing, period.

[kindkit]

But you're interested in DAAS and willing to talk about them! That's a great thing in itself. Unfortunately my attempts at getting other people interested in DAAS have entirely failed, so I'm glad to find a few folks (outside the forum, which is not a comfortable environment for me) who like the group already.

(By the way, I completely understand being uncomfortable with RPF--I'm not always comfortable with it myself, and I do think there are ethical limitations on RPF that don't exist for FPF--but I also think that because of DAAS Kapital, which is highly fictionalized, it's possible for there to be DAAS fic which isn't RPF.)

[pixiestikks]

That's sad, that your attempts at getting other people to love DAAS have failed. I've gotten 3 people interested in them so far. Unfortunately, one of them is very busy with work and school, and is also heavily invested in many other fandoms, which take priority over DAAS. One of them is, well, my brother, who is most definitely NOT interested in the discussion/slash fandom side of things, even though he's a person who's into fandom in general.

And the other one would probably not get into the fandom anyway, but he does like the one clip I showed him. ("I Fuck Dogs", of course!)

And... I don't know. I feel like maybe I'm a hypocrite, loving so much to read RPF, but never wanting to write it myself. But I just don't know. And about DAAS Kapital- I love the show. I think it's hilarious and awesome and I love it. But I just don't think I could write it well. :(

[kindkit]

That's sad, that your attempts at getting other people to love DAAS have failed.

It's also very confusing--it makes me wonder if my sense of humor is wildly different from most people's. Which is possible, I guess, because I find a lot of popular comedy shows and movies excruciating.

But I just don't think I could write it well.

The thought of writing DAAS Kapital scares me a bit. I've written fic for a lot of fandoms, but DK is so utterly strange that I'm not sure I could do it justice.