The Wisdom of Tobolowsky

Stephen Tobolowsky, in his new book The Dangerous Animals Club, has a great comment on drug use that really deconstructs our fascination with the practice – “[D]rugs create [an] ……

Pull a Pappy

“People like that reform. Maybe we should get us some.” Truer words have never been spoken in a campaign. In this case, Governor Pappy O’Daniel is trailing challenger Homer Stokes…

Meta-ambivalence

Creating a sense of ambivalence within a show is generally a quality of a good show, with good writing, good acting, etc. But what about meta-ambivalence? In “The Walking Dead,”…

Zombie Supreme Court

Over the years, we as a culture have expounded much on the impending Zombie Apocalypse. But one consequence I fear we have not fully appreciated is the effect on the…

If you had a President Romney…

A spokesperson for the Romney campaign recently said, regarding the protests and violence in the Middle East, “…if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation…” Romney…

Has Brad Bird read Superfolks?

I would guess so, since The Incredibles shares much thematically with this 1977 novel by Robert Mayer. I discovered Superfolks recently myself, and I find the concepts familiar – but…

Worst Book Cover Ever

I have seen many book covers in my life – and I have to say, the cover for Alien Sex, a short story compilation I’ve owned for years, is absolutely…

Greene’s The Tenth Man

Graham Greene could have been talking about today’s political pundits with this line from The Tenth Man: “She was like an old weatherworn emblem of wisdom – something you find…