Contributors
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The sport of youth and fashion of the age
In the twenty-four years I’ve been playing video games, I think I’ve become pretty well rounded. Platformers, RPGs, shooters, puzzlers, text-only, you name it — I’ve tried it. There is one chink in my armor, though, and it’s sports games. My cousin was the only one in the family with a Super Nintendo growing up. … Read more
The darkest of knights
I was recently at a party in which I met a gentleman who tried to convince me that the third Matrix film is the finest of the trilogy. Needless to say, I was aghast and spent the next several minutes arguing against this delusional notion until finally my wife wisely and diplomatically separated me from … Read more
The Nook is dead
My Nook is dead. It died in mid-March and I haven’t missed it at all. Except every now and then I thought about the book I was in the middle of reading. And once in a while I remembered how nice it was to buy new books from the comfort of my couch. Plus those … Read more
True crime
Very few things titillate us like a good serial killer story. Those who kill irrationally have become our new movie monster, as the horror of a Frankenstein’s Monster or Dracula has waned in our imagination over the decades. We see vampires and werewolves as teenage celebrities more often than not in today’s media, but serial … Read more
(Half) Marathon woman
I’ve never been an athlete. The only marathons I’ve ever been interested in are the kinds about special victim units, crime scene investigations, or drag queen reality shows. In elementary school, I hid behind the giant shady tree to avoid my turn at bat on the baseball diamond. In soccer, I’d run around and try … Read more
Parallel lives
As I pulled into my office parking lot this morning and turned off the car I noticed that the digital dashboard clock showed “6:16.” In my early morning pre-coffee daze my mind registered that 616 is the main Marvel universe’s designation as provided by Alan Moore. I always respected Moore for giving the universe a … Read more
Shouting at the screen (and the page)
*Spoiler alert: The following review of The Sixes by Kate White doesn’t tell you who did it, but it tells you who didn’t* Jurassic Park hit theaters for the first time when I was nine years old. My mother had thought about asking our live-in nanny, Lori, to come with us but in the end … Read more
My favorite mamas
We all know Claire Huxtable and Roseanne Conner are pretty fantastic big mamas of the small screen, but who will make my list of dream moms? Linda Belcher of Bob’s Burgers If I could only pick one TV mama to be my very own, it would have to be Linda Belcher. With big flippy hair, … Read more
Work amidst the biomass
Leviathan (2012) straddles the line between documentary and avant-garde; composed entirely from footage shot on a large fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean, it hints at how life is lived on the boat, but exists primarily as a visual and auditory experience. Things happen, but there is no plot; our understanding is entirely derived from … Read more
A Shepard prepares
I have always been a great player of pretend. I love telling stories. As I child, I was often accused of having an overactive imagination. When I’d play outside with the neighborhood kids, I’d go beyond the typical “cops and robbers” and do “mob boss versus grizzled detective who’s getting too old for this stuff,” … Read more
