Rolling Stone Trolls Us All With Naked Julia-Louise Dreyfus, U.S. History Fail

They’ve pretty much become the Slate of music magazines (NSFW-ish at link): throwing up outlandish nonsense to boost sales. Ace thinks this editorial ignorance, or even a prophylactic error, a case of “If we don’t put John Hancock’s signature on her butt, people will give us crap for getting it wrong, even though it’s not wrong.”… Read More Rolling Stone Trolls Us All With Naked Julia-Louise Dreyfus, U.S. History Fail

10 Apr 20146 Oct 2014 Andrew1 Comment

Let the #HIMYM Fans Rage, Crack, Blow Thy Bellyful.

Sitcom finale’s always disappoint. Always. They either go full maudlin and forget to be funny, or they work too hard to provide finality and so screw up the chemistry, or they don’t do anything at all (hi, Seinfeld!). This happens because sitcoms are built on the idea “these people, in this scene, are funny.” Ending… Read More Let the #HIMYM Fans Rage, Crack, Blow Thy Bellyful.

2 Apr 20142 Apr 2014 Andrew1 Comment

Game of Roses, or How George R.R. Martin Gave New Names to Historical Persons

I see my friends getting all excited for the new season of Game of Thrones. It almost makes me wish for HBO. But as I’ve said before, I’ve read the books, and as I’ve said before, Martin has drawn heavily on the actual history of 15th-century England in creating his saga. Sure, most people with… Read More Game of Roses, or How George R.R. Martin Gave New Names to Historical Persons

28 Mar 2014 Andrew1 Comment

March Comic Book Post: Please Don’t Humanize the Comedian

I finally got the last two issues of Three today, and I am absorbing the boulder-to-the-face that is their finale. At the fifth issue, finality. That’s several pleasant layers of verisimilitude mixed with economy of storytelling. I’m saving it for next month’s post. Besides, I thought I might chime in on something that DC’s been doing that’s… Read More March Comic Book Post: Please Don’t Humanize the Comedian

23 Mar 20146 Oct 2014 Andrew2 Comments

How I Met Your Mother: a Consideration of Character Decline

I’ve really blogged enough about this show, but as long as it keeps sending me hits, I’ll continue registering my notice of comic FAIL. Blackmailer’s Don’t Shoot finally threw in the towel this season. It’s a world of smug 20 and 30-somethings whose self-regard vastly outweighs their accomplishments. Watch it to see what a glimpse… Read More How I Met Your Mother: a Consideration of Character Decline

7 Mar 2014 Andrew8 Comments

The Oscars Were Boring, Just Like Every Other Year….

The Hollywood Reporter offers the usual dead-horse cruelty: As a television event, this year’s Oscars was more like an endurance test — turgid, badly directed, poorly produced and featuring an endless string of tired or wince-inducing moments from host Ellen DeGeneres. To which one can only add, well, isn’t that what it always is? A… Read More The Oscars Were Boring, Just Like Every Other Year….

4 Mar 20144 Mar 2014 AndrewLeave a comment

Leonard Nimoy is Sick. Prepare for Nerd Agony.

Lung disease, poor fellow. “I quit smoking 30 yrs ago. Not soon enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!! LLAP,” the living legend tweeted, adding his signature abbreviation for the half-Vulcan’s “live long and prosper” motto. Now, COPD is bad, but it’s not lung cancer. My grandfather’s had emphysema, a form of COPD, for years. He’s… Read More Leonard Nimoy is Sick. Prepare for Nerd Agony.

9 Feb 2014 Andrew2 Comments

Why Celebrities Kill Themselves

It doesn’t take much to interpret Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s untimely death of what’s looking increasingly like a heroin overdose as an unconscious leap into the void. When I first read the accounts, I was struck by two facts: Hoffman had been clean, or so he said, for 23 years before last year. The brand of… Read More Why Celebrities Kill Themselves

4 Feb 2014 Andrew1 Comment

January Comic Book Post: The 70’s Punching You Right in the Face

This was supposed to be January’s Post, but I didn’t get around to it. There will be a February post as well…sometime in April, the way things are going. I’ve been meaning to address this scene, from Issue #2 of The Star Wars, but I was waiting for it to get addressed. I’m waiting for Annikin… Read More January Comic Book Post: The 70’s Punching You Right in the Face

1 Feb 20141 Feb 2014 AndrewLeave a comment

Crusader Kings II Gets the Middle Ages

Strategy Games For Change | Bit Creature. There is no better way to understand an historical period than by putting yourself in the center of it. The best way to understand the Middle Ages is therefore to play Crusader Kings II. And that’s what I’m going to tell my wife the next time it keeps… Read More Crusader Kings II Gets the Middle Ages

27 Jan 2014 Andrew1 Comment