Christopher Landing's Discoveries

mildlyunnerving:

I do realise that there are identities and orientations missing, but you get the point. I didn’t create it.

No "boys" and "girls" at gender-neutral preschool in Sweden

A preschool in Sweden wants to eliminate gender bias by referring to children as “friends,” instead of girls and boys, and avoiding gender-specific pronouns such as “him” or “her.”

At the taxpayer-funded “Egalia” preschool in Stockholm, which opened last year for children ages 1-6, boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen, which is located next to the Lego bricks, the Associated Press reports.

They read books featuring gay and lesbian couples, single parents and adopted children, instead of fairy tales such as “Cinderella” or “Snow White,” which are rife with gender stereotypes.

School staff try to avoid masculine and feminine references in their speech, for example by not using the Swedish pronouns “han” or “hon” for him or her, and instead using the genderless word “hen,” which doesn’t formally exist in the Swedish language. 

“Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing,” teacher Jenny Johnsson told the AP. “Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be.”…

getoutoftherecat:

get off of there cat. you cannot sleep on my book. i cannot read through you you are solid because you are a cat.

Want to hear a joke? Feminism.

saraheritage:

I now see that Tumblr clearly isn’t for networking, and is the most pointless thing ever, so here’s a picture of my cat eating cigarettes.

Now, I will link you to a song that has had my ear for a good week now.  I highly recommend getting a high quality copy of it (CD or high quality MP3) and listening through either sick speakers or a decent pair of headphones.  There are hidden sounds snuggled deep within the beautiful swirling synth lines that you can miss out on with poor quality.

The drum lines are nice and hidden just behind the melodies, perfect for the song, and the synth lines are slightly exaggerated in their length.  Approximately two minutes and thirty seconds in, he starts using interesting samples, then an abrupt key change approximately three minutes in that can be rattling, but somehow flows perfectly with the feeling of the song, AND THERE’S STILL SIX MINUTES LEFT.

The entire album itself, Black City, is fantastic, but long after I’m done listening to the album, I suspect I’ll still be listening to this song.

A streaming link for those of you who won’t look for good quality…

Matthew Dear - Little People (Black City)

• Number One

M.I.A.’s Stepping up.  I absolutely love the sampling of the power tools and her chant of, “Sub sub sub, subby subby sub subby subby sub.”

M.I.A. - Steppin Up

• Number Two

As per usual, jumping a little late on another “indie” bandwagon, Sleigh Bells’ Infinity Guitars. Their use of drum machines with heavy ass guitar riffs is like the Ting Tings on crack.

Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

• Number Three

The original Swoon by the Chemical Brothers will make you feel things.  Incredibly powerful things.  Now the Boys Noize remix will only make you feel the urge to dance.

Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Boys Noize Remix)

• Number Four

I’ve recently rediscovered DJ Shadow (who I’ve been listening to for years and years now).  Every time I listen to his stuff I find a new facet that I love and enjoy.  I’m going to put this one, Midnight In A Perfect World because every year or so, I re-stumble upon it and find something I missed in the last ten years of listening to this.

DJ Shadow - Midnight In A Perfect World

• Number Five

Another artist that I seem to keep on rediscovering, Dr. Octagon.  This track, A Trip To The Gynecologist is the perfect display of build up using samples and scratching (Dan The Automator and DJ QBert are to thank for that, both brilliant, and both of whom I’m sure I’ll praise later…  (Skip to about 5:07 in the video)

Dr. Octagon - A Visit To The Gynecologyst