The news that Scholastic is shutting down its Weekly Reader elementary school newspaper (read more about it here: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/25/the-last-weekly-reader/?hpt=hp_bn13) signifies the loss of another piece of my childhood. We would read through it each week in class for several years of my elementary school career (I want to say third grade and fourth grade, andContinue reading “Thoughts on the Weekly Reader”
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Left Field Cards and Some Thoughts on Obsession
I just read an article by Paul Lukas (http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/6053/the-coolest-baseball-cards-of-the-year) about Left Field Cards (http://www.leftfieldcards.com/index.html), an art project by Amelie Mancini that consists of quirky sets of baseball card-esque postcards. I love paper culture, and I love baseball, and I love the nostalgia evoked by baseball cards (I collected them avidly as a boy), so I absolutelyContinue reading “Left Field Cards and Some Thoughts on Obsession”
On Being a Cyborg
My primary computer was infected with a trojan several days ago, so I spent a large chunk of time this weekend working to eradicate it. Aside from feeling annoyed about the process in general–anger at whoever created the malware, trepidation about the damage it caused, frustration at the disruption of my plans in order toContinue reading “On Being a Cyborg”
The Polymath or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman
The Polymath or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman. Delany is my favorite writer, but I’ve never been fortunate enough to hear him speak, so it was wonderful to see this film, which is made up almost exclusively of Delany talking about his life and writing. Although the film itself is ratherContinue reading “The Polymath or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman”
In Praise of Street Food
Today there was an annual Independence Day street fair in my neighborhood. I love street fairs even though they are often hot and overcrowded because they always involve delicious street food! I grew up with high street food standards as a result of living in New York City, where the hot dogs are the best inContinue reading “In Praise of Street Food”
R.I.P. Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron died today at the age of 71. This is a major loss for American culture. While I enjoyed a number of Ephron’s films, including When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, and Bewitched, I will especially remember her for her occasional witty personal essays from the New Yorker and her early feminist essaysContinue reading “R.I.P. Nora Ephron”
“The Wake-Up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards
Here’s a link to R.E.M.’s performance of “The Wake-up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards (oh those halcyon days when MTV mattered/was relevant to music)*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLhZN6dwnEY I remember watching it on television at the time and being a) disappointed, because I had never heard the song before since it hadn’t been released yet–I wasContinue reading ““The Wake-Up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards”
Some Thoughts on the Role of Pop Culture in Teaching Us How to Live
One of my favorite film scenes is when Rob (John Cusack) asks in High Fidelity “What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands ofContinue reading “Some Thoughts on the Role of Pop Culture in Teaching Us How to Live”
The Django Unchained Trailer
Here’s the trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming film, Django Unchained: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/django-unchained/ I am fantastically excited about this movie! I love most of Tarantino’s work. Deathproof was only so-so, but Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bills are two of my favorite films (remember that Kill Bill was meant to be a single release). I am alsoContinue reading “The Django Unchained Trailer”
“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”
Here’s the video for U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_WDG8iLT1o There’s not much to say about it other than that it’s a fantastic video: It’s animated! Bono reads The Screwtape Letters! Batman plays the cello! It was always a treat when it came on television, back when MTV still played videos.
Daniel Shank Cruz 