If someone asks me my favorite color, I usually don’t mention how it’s shifted over the years or how no one seemed to share my favorite color growing up or how I don’t necessarily have a favorite per se now, more favorite several hues and shades over others. So I just say, “Blue.” It’s a safe pick, especially when it comes to wardrobe choices (it goes with my eyes). Why, there’s even a quietly subversive…
Once upon a time, before the Internet was in full bloom, my dad decided to look through the latest U.S. Army guides on countries (now known as “country studies”) and compile economic data to determine people’s standard of living in various countries based on GDP and local buying power. He did this for fun. It was how he rolled. Since I had recently been living and studying in Indonesia (and yes, my dad gave me…
Top Gun: Maverick performed some “best of the best” box office maneuvers when it opened Memorial Day weekend and continues to do well. The original film proved to be as much a recruitment commercial as popcorn movie… and this sequel’s premiere aboard an aircraft carrier, Midway (now a museum ship), hints that this newest film will perform similarly. As a cinemaniac who’s seen more than a few military-themed movies over the decades, Hollywood’s connection to…
So, last week, I figured we Internet denizens needed a dance break (and hey, being a movie buff, it was a good mash-up), so why not do another video post? This time, it comes from the musically-inclined Bill Wurtz (technically, bill wurtz?)… and it gives a summary of the whole planet (human-centric, naturally). Note that there is not-safe-for-work (NSFW) language and it’s irreverent throughout, including at least one event that you would like to get…
It’s the even of Memorial Day Weekend here in the States and, despite the holiday being a more solemn occasion, the long weekend has long been the official unofficial start of Summer So let’s go ahead and help get that out of our systems.
Thanks to several area theaters offering ridiculously good deals for students, I started regularly attending theaters in the 1980s. Almost from the get-go, I was exposed to what is generally termed “non-traditional casting,” including a production of Macbeth with a cast that included actors who, at the time, I would not have instantly guessed as “Scottish.” Any preconceived notions I might have had of what the Scottish characters “ought to look like” were retired by…
I’m not sure the “oral history” long-form article became more popular in the social media age, but I certainly have noticed it a lot more in the past 15 years… and I usually enjoy the pieces about seminal stage and screen productions. It’s a good reminder of how, even when we see these works that are exquisite faits accompli, they are the result of hard-working humans, who are on their own journey. So I very…
The ferryman guided a special soul across the river earlier this week. Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, known to professionally as Vangelis, died this past Tuesday at the age of 79. You can read remembrances, appreciations, and obituaries from: Rolling Stone AP BBC NPR Variety The AV Club Many a cinephile will know Vangelis immediately, but for many of us, we came of age and found our love for both film and film music right when Vangelis…
A couple posts I read this past weekend inspired me to update my “Writing” section, but before I get to that, here are the posts in questions. Ken Levine on the difference between amateur writers and pros. Ken Levine is, as one might expect of a veteran writer of shows like M*A*S*H and Cheers, pithy and to the point. I’ve heard both the anecdotes before, though I don’t think I knew the sources. Mark Evanier…
It’s Friday, so it’s time for something light and cheerful. How about death? It is Friday the 13th, you know. No really, this is about as fun an exploration about the language we use regarding shuffling off the mortal coil that I recall seeing this side of a Charles Addams cartoon. And the doctor below happily explains all sorts of geeky trivia regarding words. Seriously, if I understood how much fun I might have before…