Imagine a writer/playwright/intellectual whose most famous single remark was “the black race is the cancer of human history”. Who said “The Pinochet revolution is astonishingly free of repression and bureaucratization.” Who praised the attack on Pearl Harber as a brave deed. Do you suppose such a person would collect laudatory tributes and glowing obituaries on… Continue reading Susan Sontag is Dead
Month: December 2004
The Journalist as Herd Creature
In September 2004, well before the elections, I wrote an essay on the collapse of mainstream media influence. I predicted that the Rathergate scandal and the Swift Boat Vets would lock up the election for George W. Bush, despite the MSM’s most determined efforts to get Kerry into the White House. I related this to… Continue reading The Journalist as Herd Creature
Where’s Tom Wolfe when you need him?
The Ananova site brings us this little gem: Baseball star’s wife makes ultimate threat The wife of a top US baseball player has vowed to have sex with all of his team mates if he ever cheats on her. Anna Benson, a former model and stripper who was named Baseball’s Hottest Wife by FHM, is… Continue reading Where’s Tom Wolfe when you need him?
Hacking My Way To Stardom
This is storyboard art for a movie called Nightmask, with the interesting property that I will probably get a speaking part in it if it’s actually produced. “Whoa!” you may well ask. “How does a middle-aged geek with no showbiz history beyond a few singer/songwriter coffeehouse gigs in his college days land a part in,… Continue reading Hacking My Way To Stardom
The Revenge of the Nerds is Living Well
Grant McCracken has argued in his book Plenitude that one of the defining characteristics of the last fifty years is an explosion of subcultural variety — people creating new lifestyles and new identities around occupations, sexual tastes, hobbies, genres of art and music, religions, and just about any other investment of time human beings have… Continue reading The Revenge of the Nerds is Living Well
Upgrading to WordPress
The WordPress update is now complete. Unfortunately, I deleted some recent comments while clearing out comment spam. Comment spam is now blocked using a simple and clever method which I will not disclose in public.
The Racist of Earthsea
In Slate magazine, SF author Ursula LeGuin complains that the producers of the new Earthsea miniseries have butchered her work. One form of butchery that she zeroes in on is by casting characters who she intended to be red, brown, or black as white people. I have mixed feelings. LeGuin has every right to be… Continue reading The Racist of Earthsea
Left2Right – a critical appraisal
I’ve been reading a new blog called Left2Right, founded in mid-November 2004 as an attempt by a group of left-wing intellectuals to reach out to intelligent people on the right of the American political spectrum. It is indeed a thought-provoking read, but the thoughts they are provoking are not necessarily of the sort they intend.… Continue reading Left2Right – a critical appraisal
Free Falling
My friend Howard Tayler, the cartoonist behind Schlock Mercenary, invited me to post this.