23. She/-a. đalan. Roja separatista on main.
In this blog expect a mix of history, leftist social/political stuff, musical theatre, books, cultures, memes... Mastodon: @elna@mastodont.cat.
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(I block bots/empty blogs, so if you're new here put something on your blog so we can identify you as a real person)
K this is a real problem for public libraries trying to supply their communities with media. We canât buy those shows on DVD either. And what about bringing the community together to watch a show or movie? We canât get licensing for it. We canât preserve those shows if streaming services never release them on DVD. Itâs frustrating and concerning.
[Image: Rick Riordan ( @/rickriodan at mastadon ) says: I am glad books are not (for the most part) provided by streaming services. Imagine a world where book series are not just cancelled but all copies are erased from existence, like many of the shows being pulled from Disney+ right now. Itâs deeply unsettling.]
This (media not being distributed in physical formats) is especially frustrating in rural communities. In many rural places internet infrastructure is practically, if not actually, nonexistent, making streaming highly impractical. Remember the early 00âs, when dial-up internet was still the most affordable option? There are so many places where itâs still the only option because it isnât profitable to run cable or fiber. Since internet service is still 100% privately-owned in the US people who live in far-flung, sparsely-populated areas are dismissed as not valuable enough potential customers.
Then thereâs the parallel issue of cost in general. In the days of exclusively physical media it was eventually possible for most people in a community to upgrade to the newest media format. As technology ages it (generally) becomes more affordable as mid- and low-end versions of things like DVD players become common. It might take a long time, but a low-income family could conceivably save up to buy a Blu-Ray player and keep themselves from being locked out of the modern media ecosystem. Those devices were one-time investments that could be used for years. Streaming services are the opposite in every way: the cost of the platform subscriptions and the internet connectivity needed to access them will only continued to rise, and thereâs no end to the payments. Two months of bare bones internet (~$20 if theyâre lucky) and a Netflix subscription ($9.99 for the basic plan, $6.99 for the godawful ad-supported tier) will be more expensive than a basic Blu-Ray player (~$60) within 3 months.
Not providing physical copies of this media prevents people from participating in culture.
The AI issue is what happens when you raise generation after generation of people to not respect the arts. This is what happens when a person who wants to major in theatre, or English lit, or any other creative major gets the response, “And what are you going to do with that?” or “Good luck getting a job!”
You get tech bros who think it’s easy. They don’t know the blood, sweat, and tears that go into a creative endeavor because they were taught to completely disregard that kind of labor. They think they can just code it away.
That’s (one of the reasons) why we’re in this mess.
Hi! Don't feel obligated to answer, but I've been learning catalan & I'd love to read some novels originally written in catalan, but i'm having a bit of a hard time finding ones that aren't 'classics'. Any recs? (I usually like literary stuff, like, authors irritatingly showing their skill, i eat that shit up, but anything contemporary or psychological or fantasy or anything will absolutely do :,) )
Oop sorry, I hadn’t seen the message until now.
You won’t have difficulty about this because Catalan literature is very lively and there’s lots of great books coming out very often. Catalan literature has been praised around the world for having such vitality and quality, considering that it’s a relatively small language community.
Personally the first recommendation that came to mind is Manuel de Pedrolo but idk if you’re considering that a classic? He’s relatively recent but many 20th century authors have become classics. His Mecanoscrit del segon origen is definitely considered a classic even though it’s only from 1974, but I don’t think the other ones are usually. Anyway, I really like his sci-fi short stories book Trajecte final, and my dad has spent years obsessed with his theatre play Homes i no.Talking about theatre scrips, I have a really soft spot for La cançó de les balances by Josep Maria Carandell ❤️.
I’m not usually one to read many short stories books but I also recommend Albert Sánchez Piñol’s Homenatge als caiguts (stories of about 2 pages long and usually funny, very entertaining to read).
For a completely different vibe of short stories, I also thought El Cafè de la Granota by Jesús Moncada was excellent, the characterization and events feel like hearing your grandparents telling stories of when they were young. I still haven’t read his most famous novel Camí de sirga though, honestly I don’t know what I’m waiting for lol.
Canto jo i la muntanya balla by Irene Solà has also been very popular in the past few years and she definitely shows off her literary prose. I found it very lovely and I recommend it for when you want something more experimental. It’s a book where each chapter is narrated by someone or something different (a shepherd, the rain, a witch who was killed centuries ago, a deer, a dog…) and it’s very well written, it has also won some international awards.
And listen for some reason I still haven’t read them myself (I plan to change that soon) but the best contemporary author is probably Jaume Cabré. I’ve only heard the highest praise for his Les veus del Pamano, and other of his books like Jo confesso. I’m planning to finally read Les veus del Pamano this summer and I’m very excited for it.
Another one I’ve heard lots of praise for and which I’m excited to read (hopefully soon) is Les històries naturals by Joan Perucho. I wasn’t going to include books I haven’t read besides Cabré (because, let’s face it, with a question like this one must include Jaume Cabré) but since you asked for literary fantasy I think you might like it. It’s about a knight/botanist who looks for one of Jaume I’s knights who is a vampire.
Others that I’ve had recommended but haven’t had time to read yet: Junil a la terra dels bàrbars by Joan Lluís-Lluís, Nicolau by Antoni Veciana, Guilleries by Ferran Garcia, and lots of people have loved Eva Baltasar’s Permagel, Boulder and Mamut though it doesn’t seem like my style they seem interesting.
I don’t know if any of my followers wants to share some more in the comments/reblogs, but I’d be interested to hear them too 👀
Indonesia Mythology of the Heavenly Princess Sideak Parujar
In this Indonesian folklore among the Batak people, this goddess literally ran to a distant planet covered in water, harassed the dragon living there and created Earth just because she didnât want to get arranged married because she says the dude was too ugly.
Universal basic income is essential if we want to build a bright future in the age of automation.
Seriously. The 40-hour work week was codified in 1940, before computers did anything. Per-hour productivity has more than quadrupled since then, but we’re working even harder, to live not all that much better. It’s absurd.
No, it’s not absurd, it’s deliberate. The ruling class wants us to work as hard as possible, so they have profits to skim and pile up.
I’ll reblog this every time I see it: Before the 40 hour work week, we had the 80 hour work week, the 100 hour work week. What got us 40 hours? Unions. Want a work week that reflects productivity levels? Unions. Want UBI? Unions.
El 17 de juliol commemora la data de la Batalla de Castilhon (1453), que els occitans de vegades defineixen com âel principi de la fiâ. Com a conseqßència d'aquesta batalla, França va annexionar AquitĂ nia, i posteriorment la resta d'OccitĂ nia (excepte les Valadas Occitanas i la Val d'Aran). Avui en dia, OccitĂ nia continua sota control francès i la imposiciĂł de la llengua francesa ĂŠs prĂ cticament absoluta.
De la mateixa manera que a Catalunya commemorem l'11 de setembre en record a 1714, per recordar la llibertat perduda però que l'ocupació mai va aconseguir eliminar-nos del tot com es proposava, el 17 de juliol Ês un dia semblant pels nostres germans occitans.
Molts d'anys, occitans!
@lokimymuseâ Can you translate? I am not fluent in Spanish.
Thatâs not Spanish, itâs Catalan (a language that is available on Google translate btw). It means this:
July 17th commemorates the date of the Battle of Castilhon (1453), which Occitan people sometimes define as âthe beginning of the endâ. As a consequence of this battle, France annexed Aquitania, and the rest of Occitania would follow (except for the Valadas Occitanas and the Val d'Aran). Nowadays, Occitania remains under French control and the imposition of the French language is almost absolute.
In the same way that in Catalonia we commemorate the 11th of September in remembrance of 1714, to remember the lost freedom but that the occupation never succeeded in completely eliminating us, as it intended; the 17th of July is a similar day for our Occitan brothers.
And âMolts d'anysâ is what you say to congratulate someone. The literal translation would be â[may it last for] many yearsâ but here in English I guess it would be something like âHappy 17th of Julyâ.
an important thing to remember is that strikes are ultimately the result of the labour conditions imposed by the employers, not the workers. we can no more blame striking workers for the loss of services than we could blame them for stopping work during a fire, or a building collapse. the injury is carried out by the boss, the work stoppage is a result of it. if you are opposed to the negative consequences of an industry breaking down, remember that it’s the bosses who caused the catastrophe.
If anyone wants to know where the UK is currently at, disability campaigners have lost a battle over making it a legal requirement for high-rise flats to have an evacuation plan for disabled residents.
Some people prefer being single. Some people aren’t very concerned about whether they’re in a relationship or not. Being in a long term committed relationship isn’t an important goal for everyone.
ALT
