While not all, it seems an inordinate number of games these days — including games targeting kids — are designed to be addictive in ways that may not be in line with Federation ideals, so to speak. Do I mix franchises? yes I mix franchises. My fandom is vast. It contains multitudes.
Back in March, I had a longer post discussing the notion of comics as “idea incubators.” This isn’t my brilliant idea, it’s coming from comic veterans. Now as a storyteller is general and a fan of comics in particular, I’m perhaps predisposed to like this argument. However, I think it’s important to remind the bean-counting set that humans like stories. Audiences flocked to Avengers: Endgame because they had invested in the story and characters, not…
I’m always interested in the state of works in the public domain, especially as works in the U.S. have started entering said domain this year. So I was surprised, bordering on elated, to learn that the majority of books published in the U.S. before 1964 may actually be in the public domain: we don’t need to wait another 1-40 years! Here’s a link to the change covered by Boing Boing as well as the actual…
The other week, I mused about giving your young’uns a steady diet of scares, inspired in part by reading an article by artist Greg Ruth. Well, as probably comes as no surprise, Ruth also has some thoughts about the eternal struggle to make a living from one’s creative work and yes, it’s naturally pertinent to illustrators, but I think his points should resonate with writers as well. By the way, if you want to check…
After Wednesday’s post that focused a great deal about how to curate one’s persona online, I was surprised that I hadn’t written at length about Jenny Odell and her efforts to help people curate their involvement in the “attention economy.” I’ve found the article bears repeat reading, because there’s so many different ideas it raises and so much that you, personally, need to reflect on. And yes, I mean need. At its core, and related…
This past weekend, I let my kids watch the original Clash of the Titans. Besides being able to pass on my love for Ray Harryhausen films as my dad passed on to me, I’ve had the chance to do some short stop-motion films with both of them with smartphone and tablet (ain’t modern technology grand?). One of the concerns was how scary the film would be to the young’uns. The man burning alive, the giant…
It’s no secret that Mad, the steadfast satirical magazine that’s been on newsstands for the past 67 years is all but ending, as per these pieces in the Washington Post, New York Times, and a personal one from The Week. I learned about it first from Mark Evanier’s blog, as he’s not only a pop culture historian, he regularly works with one of Mad’s most storied illustrators, Sergio Aragonés. Technically, Mad is not completely dead:…
I’m not sure if this is what the Founding Fathers were thinking of when they decided to adopt the ol’ Stars and Stripes. I’m sure they hoped the Great Experiment would be successful. But did they envision a future where people would proudly wear versions of the nation’s flag as neckwear and sing about said flag in a form of digital cloning on the Inter-Tubes? Okay, I’m pretty sure it’s not what they were thinking…
Just over 240 years ago, the United States announced its separation from Britain… a separation that could be measured in many ways, but definitely in miles. And while pretty much the rest of the world has decided to “Make Mine Metric,” Americans remain unconvinced. Why? The Verge has some theories.
I’m working on some other posts related to fandom. One is a follow-up in the Crisis of Infinite Star Treks series (where I talk about fan involvement with Star Trek throughout, but specifically go into more here and here.) I’m also working on a longer piece about getting one’s own creative work out there and developing fans oneself. One struggle I’ve had of late has been how much the Internet thrives on hate and outrage.…