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Another fandom con, closer to home in some ways, but farther in others
Over the weekend, Karl and I put on a panel about giant monster movies at the New York Comic Con / New York Anime Festival (NYCC/NYAF), called "Destroy All Dogmas: The Politics of Daikaiju Eiga." Wifey...
View Articleteaching for the sake of teaching
There is a movement afoot to privilege evidence of teaching effectiveness, and even specific teaching methods, over academic scholarship in the disciplines. Some are all but declaring outright that...
View ArticleNight terrors
From high above Manhattan I Looked down and found Fifth AvenueA path of sparkling light, not quiteAs bright as youI sat in a silent, empty room of unadorned concrete and windows without glass. The...
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Tragic Events in Science, Lecture 13: The first form of zombie life
Mono Lake, once a peaceful hypersaline pool on the Western Shore of the sprawling continent of Nortimer. This is where it all happened. Where a group of mad scientists, working for a secretive arm of...
View ArticleTwo years today...
Most years he'd say, you don't have to buy me a gift. I don't need anything. The only gift I want is maybe a report card with all A's. That shit was cold, yo. I mean to a grown-up it sounds selfless...
View Article2011: The Year We Bake Cookies
After a few hours of self-negotiating and introspection I have come up with two resolutions for 2011: to read the Harry Potter series, and go vegetarian at least two days out of every week. Holiday...
View ArticleHow to be the top dog!
Yesterday was the last day of class, so today I took a quick break to sleep in and then do some laundry. Nice lady in the basement – not quite “old” but certainly over the hill – is wearing a tie-dyed...
View ArticleHarry and Luke vs. V&V
Below, my comment in response to Star Wars Books's post on FB this morning. In honor of another huge movie franchise concluding this weekend lets do a special TAG TEAM CRAZY DUEL! Luke Skywalker (RotJ...
View ArticleNot that I endorse Obama (or Ralph Ellison, for that matter)
‘This isn’t class warfare. This is simple math. These are real choices. These are real choices that we’ve got to make. And I’m pretty sure I know what most Americans would choose. It’s not even close....
View ArticleThe saga continues
Me: So WL bought me all six Star Wars movies on disc. One day we'll have you over to watch the whole thing.Mom: Okay, that sounds nice. I've never seen them anyway.Me: Yes you have. You've seen all of...
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Godzilla vs. Broadway!
Ordered a dragon's hoard of books about Godzilla last week, and reading David Kalat's Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series this morning. On the love triangle at the center of the...
View ArticleRemember
Cleaning out some old files this weekend, and came across an all-but-forgotten Box packed with old letters (gasp! actual paper letters!) and greeting cards and notebook entries and poems and stories...
View ArticleExcerpt from Ian Buruma, _Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan_
"A German acquaintance of roughly my age, a post-68er, told me that his visit, in 1974, had been the worst day of his life. That, he said, as well as his Christian education, had made him refuse to...
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In "Defense" of who?
Some of you have already raised your own concerns about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but to me it looked too ridiculous to be true, so I’d been holding back and hoping it turns out to...
View Articlephotos in a church
“Look Sigmund.” His fingers opened slightly and his arms stretched an inch or two out, then they hastily fell back like magnets and he was gripping the wheel again. “Daddy,” my mother said,...
View Articlespecific, measurable, and public!
So for the year 2011, I had two resolutions. The first was to go vegetarian two days per week, partly for health but mostly for the environment. Was very proud that I made it for about five months...
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"A robot may not injure a human being"
Though I like to think I "grew out of" Harlan Ellison two decades ago, on certain gloomy, cloud-filled days I still regret selling my old copy of An Edge in My Voice. So, as the story goes, Ellison...
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Hipsters' School of Writing and Wordsmithery
"Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself, or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"Seminar: well it's a hip, snappy, and (for straight dudes anyway) sexy melodrama, but the...
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"You wanna get outta here? GET RID OF THAT MONKEY"
"Attended" my first ballet yesterday, this Paul McCartney thing. Despite knowing about the poor reviews, I actually liked almost every minute of it. It was really alright. Sure I'm a noob without any...
View ArticleAdrienne Rich on lying
Of course, this is not just about women.“Sex is full of lies. The body tries to tell the truth. But, it's usually too battered with rules to be heard, and bound with pretenses so it can hardly move. We...
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