A few weeks ago, I made a remark to a co-worker about hearing a Christmas song in Lowe’s the day after Halloween. “You’re just a Christmas hater,” the person said. As I recall, my comment was innocent enough, something along the lines of “Hey, I heard a Christmas song in Lowe’s the day after Halloween,” […]
Holidays and the Impermanence of Perfect Things Read More »
Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining is tricky to describe, much less to pin down to a genre. Notice that I don’t just say “The Shining” or even “Stephen King’s The Shining,” mostly because, although King’s novel is unusual, effective, worthy of discussion in itself, and one of the scariest books I’ve ever read, Kubrick’s film version of it is possibly even
Room 237: Navigating the Maze of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining Read More »
A few years ago, the Swedish Academy awarded Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetic contributions in American music. Good for Bob, I say. I’ve been a fan ever since I first heard Blood on the Tracks at the age of twelve. Not so good for Bob, as it turns out. As
Ranked Things and the Ranking Rankers Who Rank Them Read More »
A couple of decades ago, if I moved across the country, that meant I’d probably see folks from my home state once or twice a year at best. Now, thanks to the wonders of social media like Facebook and Twitter, we’re able to virtually hang out with people we’d never get to see in person.
The Reasonably Sane Person’s Guide to Surviving Social Media Read More »
This has been a terrible year. Don’t get me wrong. Every year is terrible in its own way—and each one always seems like it’s upping the ante from the previous one—but this year is one for the books. Not only is idiocy running rampant, it’s being lauded as wisdom and truth. Scumbaggery and smug self-righteousness
The Power of Complaining Read More »
It’s Saturday morning, and I’m just out of bed. I pour a cup of coffee, stagger into my living room, and grab my television remote. Back in my younger days, I’d have searched the channel guide for Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Looney Tunes cartoons, or even Super Friends, but times have changed. Saturday in
Four Things I Learned from Watching SyFy Original Movies Read More »