Archive for January, 2009

On Evolutionary Psychology, Feminism, Patriarchy

Posted in Braak, crotchety ranting with tags , , on January 30, 2009 by braak

feminismThe topic of evolutionary psychology has come up, a couple times, when I hang out with feminists.  Now, I generally consider myself to be a feminist, but the fact is that not everyone who thinks they’re a feminist is one; I will err on the side of caution here, and leave the decision as to whether I get to be in the club up to the people that have the most significant vested interest.

In any case, I want to take a minute and talk about evolutionary psychology, its relationship to the patriarchy, and why biological determinism is stupid.

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Assassination Theory

Posted in Jeff Holland, Kill Me Harder, Politics with tags , , on January 29, 2009 by braak

oswald

One of the sad truths of getting older: Friday nights are rarely as glamorous as you think they’ll be.

As proof I offer this equation: A slow Friday night + an empty house + much-needed clean laundry = Watching a History Channel documentary.

 Go ahead, try to tell me I’m wrong. I know. Math doesn’t lie.

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Love in the Time of Facebook

Posted in dystopia, Jeff Holland, The Internet with tags , , , , on January 27, 2009 by braak

internet-3Like most people, I’m on Facebook.

And like most people, I am frustrated by/wary of it, and also immediately suspicious of anyone who’s not on it.

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At the Movies: Inkheart, City of Ember

Posted in Braak, reviews with tags , , , on January 26, 2009 by braak

I know that movies are generally Holland’s purview, but I saw two movies this weekend–one, in a fit of heretofore unparallelled decadence in a THEATER–and I thought that I would say some things about them.

The first was Inkheart, which was based on a book that I was familiar with from my days as a bookstore inventory clerk.

The movie is better than this poster suggests.

The movie is better than this poster suggests.

Weirdly, I was not familiar with this film as a result of any kind of promotional material–no trailers, no posters, no anything.  It was purely happenstance that I saw it at all.

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So, When You Say “Press”…?

Posted in books, Braak, crotchety ranting, future with tags , , , on January 23, 2009 by braak

ON SELF PUBLISHING:

the-translated-man-cover-picOkay, I have an announcement.  As of today (technically, as of Wednesday), Threat Quality Press is, technically, an IMPRINT.  This means that you will now be able to purchase books, written by your two favorite internet diarists (I like “diarist” better than “blogger” because it sounds about a million times classier).  The first book, my novel The Translated Man, is now available for purchase on our second new page “The Press.”  For obvious reasons, you should buy it.  But let’s also take a minute and talk about self-publishing, because I have a feeling that this is going to be a significant thing in a few years.

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Goodnight Cheney

Posted in Threat Quality with tags , on January 22, 2009 by braak

On inauguration day, I learned an answer to a question I never even knew I had.

The question was, “Exactly how hated do you have to be for people to make fun of you even if you’re in a wheelchair?”

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Marc Forget on 5×6

Posted in Threat Quality on January 21, 2009 by braak

[A little while ago, I made an offer to the theater community in Philadelphia: if they'd write about what they were doing onstage, and about WHY they were doing it--i.e, what was interesting about it, what was relevant about it, &c.--then I'd post the articles here. Marc Forget has offered up the first submission. Details about the time, place, and date of his performance can be found on our new Around Town page. --braak]

“But What I Really Want to do is Direct”

In response to Chris’ entreaty, I decided to share a few thoughts on the show I’m directing which is going up at the Shubin Theatre on February 12th. My name is Marc Forget and I was an actor for many years in New York. Because I wanted to actually make a living at it, I slowly moved away from theatre toward film and TV and commercials. And after a few years of mitigated success, I decided to leave acting altogether and try to be a grown up and get a “real” career. The excitement was pretty much gone.
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21st Century Ghost

Posted in Jeff Holland, Politics with tags , , , on January 20, 2009 by braak

Strange to think: in a very real sense, my entire adult life has been bush-easter-bunnyhaunted by George W. Bush. It’s a bit hard to remember life before him.

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The Philalephia Theater Research Symposium!

Posted in Threat Quality on January 19, 2009 by braak

I went to the Philadelphia Theater Research Symposium on Friday, to present my paper on Stochastic Aesthetic theory.  It’s nothing too fancy–just a straightforward way of tying artistic effects into brain function.  Anyway, that’s not important.

What is important is how much Villanova University doesn’t seem to give a crap about its own projects.

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Rethinking Rex Dexter of Mars

Posted in comic books, Curse You Warren Ellis, Jeff Holland, monsters, revamps, Short Fiction, Short Fiction Friday, writing with tags , , , , on January 16, 2009 by braak

rex-dexter-1Another entry into the Whitechapel “Remake/Remodel” thread. This week: “Rex Dexter of Mars!”

Well…not exactly “of” Mars. From there, yes,but…

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