I am currently reading John King’s 1996 novel The Football Factory about soccer fan culture and its causes in 1980s/early-1990s England. I also just read Sarah Lyall’s recent New York Times article about attending English soccer matches, which I found via one of my favorite soccer websites, When Saturday Comes. The contrast between the twoContinue reading “Two Portrayals of Soccer Fandom”
Author Archives: danielshankcruz
Books Acquired Recently: Mostly Mennonite/Mostly Canadian Edition
I’ve been thinking and writing about Mennonite literature a lot lately, and this latest round of book-buying includes some of the earliest novels published in the field. It also includes one of the more recent works of Mennonite fiction and a book by someone with a Mennonite-sounding name (Kroetsch), though to my knowledge he hasContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Mostly Mennonite/Mostly Canadian Edition”
Random Friday Thoughts
I taught my final class of the school year on Wednesday, and for the past two days have just been relaxing and letting my mind wander. It hasn’t hit me on a visceral level yet that I don’t have to teach another class until late August, but my brain is already going on all sortsContinue reading “Random Friday Thoughts”
Reflections on One Year of Blogging and My Book Addiction
This week was the one-year anniversary of this blog, and it feels appropriate to mark the occasion with a post about it. First, here is a post from one of my favorite blogs, A Little Blog of Books and Other Stuff, about lessons learned from blogging. I particularly agree with numbers 3-5. Second, this isContinue reading “Reflections on One Year of Blogging and My Book Addiction”
The Office Series Finale
The Office series finale last night did a good job of ending the show. I’ve always felt that Steve Carell’s final episode should have also been the show’s final episode, but since it was not, last night’s episode did about as good of a job of ending the show as was possible. Yes, it wasContinue reading “The Office Series Finale”
David Beckham’s Retirement
David Beckham has announced that he will retire from soccer at the end of the season. He has had an excellent career, which most people forget because now he is more well-known for his off-the-pitch celebrity activities than for his footballing. In his honor, here is a link to the highlights of the 1999 ChampionsContinue reading “David Beckham’s Retirement”
Books Acquired Recently
Binnie, Imogen. Nevada. New York: Topside, 2013. As I mentioned in a recent post, I ordered this book from the publisher (Topside Press is a fantastic new venture dedicated to publishing transgender literature) after reading a glowing review of it by Casey Plett. I am excited to read it soon, perhaps this weekend. Gregg, Melissa,Continue reading “Books Acquired Recently”
Thoughts on Bill Hader Leaving Saturday Night Live and Endings in General
Bill Hader announced this week that he is leaving Saturday Night Live at the end of this season. While I got into SNL at the tail end of the Will Ferrell/Chris Parnell/Tracy Morgan-into-the-Tina Fey/Amy Poehler/Maya Rudolph days, Hader’s generation (Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Kenan Thompson, with Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen having been there aContinue reading “Thoughts on Bill Hader Leaving Saturday Night Live and Endings in General”
Show and Tell
There’s a new post on Paul Lukas’s Show and Tell blog that is rather fascinating. Some of the objects are rare and weird and others are commonplace, but the stories surrounding the objects are just as interesting as the objects themselves. I love the idea of show and tell for adults in part because IContinue reading “Show and Tell”
The Great Gatsby
I saw The Great Gatsby this evening–the first film I’ve seen on its opening night since The Return of the King, which shows how eager I was for it–and I was quite satisfied with it, 7.5/10. It is mostly true to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterful novel (much more so than many film adaptations of books),Continue reading “The Great Gatsby”
Daniel Shank Cruz 