A Song of Ice and Fire, Hold the Ice If you’re on Reddit, you probably noticed or took part in the New Year’s Night vigil of watching George R.R. Martin’s livejournal for the update on The Winds of Winter. I myself did, and it was an instructive lesson in group emotions: first excitement, then frustration,… Read More Content Creation Blues
Anyone who has ever said of the Democrats and Republicans, “A plague on both their houses”, behold the plague. My own view on Trump is fairly plain — he is a boor and a hyper-egotist, a shallow and avaricious blowhard, whose candidacy can almost stand as a rebuke to the idea of a democracy. But it… Read More Trump is not a Candidate. Trump is a Nemesis.
I’m going to discuss the film at length in the next podcast, but here’s a point dependent on my memory: A gulf in tone lies between the reviews about The Force Awakens and those that greeted The Phantom Menace sixteen years ago. Then, the critics were numb and bored with the exercise of finding something to say… Read More How do you Know Star Wars is Back? Because You Can Critique it and Still Love it.
I know I do this randomly and seemingly out of a sense of restlessness, but this time I think I may keep it a while. I’ve soured of the giant-header themes: no one needs to scroll through an image to get to the content. This one is clean, has the content front and center, and… Read More Theme-Hunting and Other Follies
J.J. Abrams Executive produced this one, and, as the trailer indicates, it was directed by the guy who did Fast & Furious 8. So, there’s that. In the comments, they are NOT taking it well. And I definitely see why they wouldn’t. Star Trek was not supposed to be an action-movie franchise. It was supposed… Read More Star Trek Beyond Trailer Causes Trekkie Rage
Specifically, my opinion. In this inaugural episode, I get a feel for the land by getting all grumpy about Indians in Immigration arguments, and I say some jolly nice things about Richard Dawkins (I know, right?) iTunes link here, so you can subscribe, if you’re into that sort of thing.
In an otherwise blandly professorial discussion of “girl squads” for the Hollywood Reporter, Camille Paglia sent some shade at Taylor Swift: In our wide-open modern era of independent careers, girl squads can help women advance if they avoid presenting a silly, regressive public image — as in the tittering, tongues-out mugging of Swift’s bear-hugging posse.… Read More Why Can’t You Idiots Read? Camille Paglia and Taylor Swift
The article itself is whatever. She establishes her progressive bona fides and then proceeds to marvel at the well-dressed, mannnerly Republican she’s planning on marrying. She closes practically begging to be forgiven: When I talk like this, it’s obvious that there is still a part of me that is a little idealistic, that wants to save… Read More XOJane Writer Dates Republican. Hilarity Ensues.
Talking about Trump, screeching in outrage at Trump’s Trumpiness is paying the man precisely the tribute he desires. If you fools don’t stop, you will deserve him trolling his way into the White House, and I will laugh incredibly hard. But Trump is calling attention to the problem of problems, which is finding a way… Read More If We Cannot Ban Islam, Perhaps We Can Ban Sharia
Stop undermining the narrative! It appears that France suffered more deaths from mass shootings in 2015 alone – 508 – than the United States has suffered during the entire Obama administration – 424. According to John R. Lott, that is. Lott is a noted gun-rights advocate and a contributor to the Crime Prevention Research Center. The… Read More Mass Shootings Worse in Europe?
Content Blues 