I had a mildly indulgent movie-watching weekend, having gorged on two DVDs (John Carpenter's original The Fog and the first disc of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. -- I am not a prideful man.) and one theatre-going experience. I wouldn't say that three flicks in one weekend is indulgent -- there have been times where that was an average day (I am not a prideful man.). What was indulgent was taking the time to listen to the audio commentary on both DVDs, something that I rarely ever do (Okay, now I am a prideful man). read more

When I was living in the Czech Republic a friend told me a story about installing cabinets in her apartment. The details escape me now (please don't be disappointed) -- I just remember that it was a long and difficult process. One thing did stick with me, however. When the project was complete, she and her boyfriend sat on the couch, admiring the new cabinets, and said, "To je Amerika" (or more closely, „To je America"). Loosely translated: That's America. read more

In spite of it all you can still think the whole thing is unmediated reality, captured and being replayed before your very eyes. Outside the frame informs and contributes to creation, but inside the frame lives and breathes and exists as a separate entity. read more

Holiday traditions exist at the crossroads of cultural memory and personal memory (we'll ignore the confusing cloverleaf interchange of invented memory for now -- my holiday gift to you!). What I've always found interesting is how these traditions converge and conflict across national, regional, local, and idiosyncratic arenas. For example, my family always had corn ... read more

I guess it's a sign that I'm not a kid reading comic books in the 1980s anymore, but the two most interesting things to me about the series were 1) my amazement at the astonishingly clunky or just lame superhero/villain names, and 2) the fact that The Joker kills Ted Turner stand-in Harold J Standish III in order to steal ownership to the copyrights over colorized silent comedies. read more

This edition isn't really in regards to the content of the below. I've enjoyed my share of blaxsploitation films and the 42nd Street Forever series. It's just that watching this hits a little too close to home in reminding me of family holidays when I was growing up...and those hits actually do feel very ... read more

I have a much deeper appreciation of Pete Incaviglia than you do. read more

All -philes are a bit odd, but I've always thought of audiophiles as the mad scientists of the preservation world. read more

Of course, living in a Northwest logging town, it wasn't as if there were regular Russian classes available, so I turned to the only resource I knew -- the children's section at the County Library. read more

That means the records date back to 1775, but also that the expectation is for the records to continue on for some time into the future (or maybe just that 9999 is the new 2012). read more