Some Minor Updates

As you may have noticed, the schedule here has been rather sporadic of late. I'm honestly still recovering from the end of the semester (physically, psychologically, intellectually) and trying to find ways to support myself economically. I hope that things won't be so scattered soon, as I find my feet, but I have to say, with sad, puppydog eyes and heavy heart, that I'm going to have to miss another update this week. Things should, if I can actually sort my damn self out, get back on track by Tuesday. I have four different articles about half-written now, it's just a matter of figuring out what they're missing and then sending them out.

On the roster:

• How to interpret Surrealist art, by way of a Scissor Sisters music video
• Uncovering some of the structural problems in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
• Defining and then recomplicating the terms "Genre" and "Media"
• Why the Modern Art references in Iron Man are actually rather thematically important
• My attempt to classify and define an art movement that carries from H R Giger all the way up to the opening animation for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Time Signatures and what they do for the meaning of music
• Maybe something about why children's books are awesome? 
• Something about why destroying media--and books in particular--is truly heinous
• And some sort of analysis on the latest Kanye West video.

And much, much more, all for the price of only $19.95!!! CALL NOW TO ORDER

Part of the difficulty here is that I'm having trouble persuading myself that this material is actually of interest to anyone other than myself. So, if any of these topics would just bore you to tears, let me know, and I'll consider whether I want to actually put them up.

In the meantime, I have a few updates on older articles, and older topics, that might be of interest to you.

Robin Hood and Rosenkreutz, and the Internet Declaration of Independence

It is with great fascination that I share the news that Lulzsec has returned. They seem, however, to be operating more like I predicted in my article Robin Hood and Rosenkreutz--i.e., as a Rosecrucian order, a more secretive, low profile (from an individual perspective), and fluid organization. This is also of particular interest given my last article, which was on the Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace.

But what really caught my attention was the fact that the Louise Lulz Boat returned with a rather interesting video:



I like a lot of what they're doing here. The text, you will note, is far weaker than the Declaration was. These people are coders and media freaks, not writers. And yet, the message gets across. You've been around here before, you know the drill, so while I'm busy self destructing, how about you take what you've learned and share, in the comments, what you think makes this video work. How does it function?

More People You Should Follow

Games are a largely spectator sport for me. I'm interested in games sort of peripherally based on my interest in new media and how it's starting to gain acceptance as an art form.

I've already linked to Extra Credits before, of course, but recently I've been feeding my hunger for analysis with the Game Overthinker. As with so many of the other modern media theorists that I respect, he's got a bit of a schtick--in this case, a persona based around the idea of patrolling the boundary between the real world and the world of Games as a sort of gumshoe superhero type. It's a little weird to get used to at first, but the persona is mostly separate from the analysis itself, and damn is that analysis good. His most recent video, for example, examined the way the most recent generation of consoles, the Wii in particular, failed to live up to their promise and propel games into the realm of art.

Does this kind of analysis sound familiar? It's very in line with my interests here, naturally, but more importantly it's exactly the kind of thing that Scott McCloud was doing back in the early 1990s for comics. This is how the move from junk culture to respected art begins, folks. Keep tabs on this one.

Also keep tabs on Free Thought Blogger Crommunist. I'm finding him to be a fascinating analyst of race issues, in particular, but also issues of class oppression, sexism, science, politics, and how all this stuff intersects. Check him out.



And that's about what I've got for tonight, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry again about the sporadic updates and the lack of content. I'll try to get my head screwed on right soon.