rants and ramblings of utter randomness

In case anyone cares, and even if you don't, the answers to my fandom love letter meme are here:

1. LOTR, guessed by aphephobia. The whole fandom got a bit too tinhatty for me. I still love the books, though. :)

2. due South, guessed by isiscolo and sam80853. Some loves you meet by chance, and it ends up being something special (especially if they have a lot of pseudopods friends). This is one of them. dS hits my love for dry humour and intelligent writing and my longtime love of Things Canadian. I also think that ds fen are the friendliest in all fandom. I don't see the wank I have in other fandoms, at least not at the same level.

3. Harry Potter, guessed by isicolo, aphephobia, and patchfire. Pieces of my RL are different today because of HP. I'll never really "leave" the HP fandom. Some of the best writers come out of this glorious, diverse soup.

4. Babylon 5, guessed by patchfire, off-LJ. The sentence, "I can't imagine a world without you in it." is a paraphrase from what John says to Delenn in Ceremonies of Light and Dark: "I can no longer imagine my world without you in it." It was true for John, and it's true for me. *loves* This is still one of my favourite programs. It's strange not to say it's my favourite anymore. It's so close to being tied that it almost doesn't matter, though.

5. The Dark Tower. I never really have considered myself in the DT fandom. I discovered the story long before I knew there was such a thing as fandom, and it's always been a different, not-really-fandom kind of thing for me (which is why I consider B5 and not DT as my first fandom). DT owns my heart and soul and always will, and that's just fine with me.:) patchfire guessed this off-LJ. I'm really surprised that nobody else got it.

6. The X-Files, guessed by patchfire. I still harbour feelings of betrayal for what Chris Carter did to this series. Part of it was maybe because Mulder almost completely left the show, but geez. He could have done so much better than what he did. Like maybe have Mulder go deep undercover with SETI, and Scully comes back from vacation in Canada Maine and finds a stranger calling himself Mulder, and he doesn't even look at all like him. Um. Anyway, I could forgive CC for even the bad post-Mulder scripts if he hadn't yanked my favourite character around so much that the guy who played him couldn't even figure him out anymore and ended up leaving the show. Really, what TXF did to Alex Krycek is unconscionable. He was too good a character have that happen, and I'm not talking about him being killed off. peacey rants about this far better than I do. :/ I have never seen the last episode. I probably should, but I'd rather watch Babylon 5 reruns.

7. Slings & Arrows, guessed by isiscolo. If someone links me to a bad review of S&A, I'll probably go into shock. I've never seen one, and I've looked. The most I've seen is that some think S2 is less great and wonderful than the other seasons, but it's still great and wonderful. I've always wondered why this isn't Canada's flagship series (or maybe it is?). Canadian media needs to tout this all over the place, because it's gotta be their pride and joy. This isn't an American show, it doesn't look or act or feel like one. It appeals to us anyway. And it's edged out B5 as my favourite show, which has been the same for what, ten years? I agree with what isiscolo said in her love letter: I don't want to just date you, I want to be you.

8. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, guessed by patchfire. A big part of any fandom for me is deconstructing the characters. I don't want to do that with the Scooby gang and friends. Okay, I've discussed theories about Spike's soul now and then, but I don't want to write an essay. I've barely read any fic, and I really don't want to. It's not that I don't think it's a great fandom, I'm sure it is. I've just never connected with the characters in a way that makes me want to speculate about their lives much. I also don't like Angel (the character, not the series) much, so maybe that's a part of it. I do love Buffy as pure entertainment, though. Once More With Feeling is brilliant, I had it on repeat loop for ages. And okay, so I do talk about Spike's soul once in a while. *g*

9. Battlestar Galactica. patchfire guessed this after some hints and a few guesses. I've been putting off watching this for quite a while, now. I think maybe the reason is that I know I could go reeling off into madness with it or something. I feel about BSG the way I did about TXF; I know I'm gonna love it, but I keep procrastinating anyway. The thing is, I know I'm really gonna love it, and I don't want it to take me over fandomwise. I'm going to cave pretty darn soon, because just look. I can't resist something as gorgeous as that much longer, and I really don't want to. Guh.


In other news, after fits and starts, I'm finally finished watching H20. Holy Jesus on a unicycle, talk about an edge-of-your-seat story. The sequel? Cannot be here fast enough. *bites nails*

Oh, and on a related (at least in the synapses of my weird and overactive brain) subject: Stephen Harper and Paul Gross were born on the same day.
They don't just share a birthday, may it do ya, they were born on the same day. Coincidence or Evil Plot? Discuss. (the fact that Willie Nelson was born exactly 26 years earlier may or may not be noteworthy).


In birth news, the news isn't good.



November 21, 2006

ICAN Names Top 15 Studies That Should Keep Mothers Out of the OR

As the number of cesarean sections in the U.S. continues to mount, so does the research showing that mothers and babies may be paying a high price for this surgery. Research published just in the last year has highlighted the short-term and long-term risks of undergoing a cesarean, for both mother and baby. Other research has called into question the assumed safety advantage of cesarean section over vaginal birth in various situations including vaginal birth after multiple cesareans and breech deliveries.

“Everything we know and continue to learn about cesareans supports more judicious use of the surgery,” says Tonya Jamois “but it is clear that the procedure is being overused.”

Major pieces of research released in 2006 showed that women who undergo cesareans versus women experiencing a vaginal birth have a higher risk of dying in childbirth, have a higher chance of suffering from potentially fatal placental problems in subsequent pregnancies, and their babies have a higher chance of being injured during surgery. The list of 15 studies that ICAN collected also shows that vaginal birth after cesarean, including multiple cesareans, continues to be a reasonably safe birthing choice for mothers. Read Entire Press Release.

patchfire says this, and she's right:

"The rate, the article notes, has risen by half since 1996, undoubtedly a result of ACOG's reversal on VBAC. This is, quite simply, intolerable. Caesarean section is surgery and should be reserved for times when it is needed. Not when the doctor is impatient, or the non-medically necessary induction didn't quite take, or the bag of water has just been broken 'too long' without a sign of infection. Most authorities suggest rates should be somewhere between five and fifteen percent, depending on the source."

Also, listen to this. Finally, someone mainstream is admitting that External Fetal Monitors don't change the outcomes in any way except to increase the already outrageously high Caeserian rate, and that the only reason docs use them is so they won't get sued (the guy who invented them even said they should only be used for high-risk births). And it's nice to know that at even though EFMs are epidemic, at least the latest Stupid Gadget didn't getting accepted without question. NPR actually says "births that occur in hospitals", acknowledging that um, no, not all births do occur in hospitals. They do persist in calling birth a "medical event", though, which it is NOT, unless a. There's an actual problem, in which case the problem is the medical event, not the birth, or b. So many interventions are used by obstetricians (and yes, a lot of nurse-midwives) that it becomes a medical event.