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When F. Scott Fitzgerald Judged Gatsby By Its Cover

With a big Hollywood movie now in theaters, some recent printings of the book have abandoned the classic cover in favor of one that ties in more closely with the film. So high school students working their way through the summer reading list this year will be hard pressed to find a copy without [...]

Aesthetics | Culture | Design | History | Media | PopCult

Ray Harryhousen, visual effects pioneer, dies

 

The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. He was a multi-award winner which includes a special Oscar and BAFTA. Ray’s influence on today’s film makers was enormous, with luminaries; Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, John Landis and the UK’s own [...]

Academia | Culture | Humanities | Language | PopCult | Writing

Slash: Not Just a Punctuation Mark Anymore

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I will have to watch for these uses of “slash.” I wonder if it has any relation to the practice of using a slash to denote romantic pairings in fanfic (e.g. Harry/Hermione).

Two weeks ago, one student brought up the word slash as an example of new slang, and it quickly became clear to me [...]

Aesthetics | Amusing | Business | Culture | Cyberculture | PopCult | SciFi

The GE Mascot That Proves They’ve Never Seen ‘The Matrix’

On a scale of 1 to 10, this definitely rates a WTF.

Seriously, has no one in GE ever seen The Matrix? Literally any other robot in the history of film would have been a better choice — even RoboCop would’ve made people feel more at ease, because at least he’s a police officer. Agent [...]

Academia | Amusing | Culture | Education | Essays | Modding | PopCult | Writing

Frodo Baggins, A.B.D.

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When I had pneumonia a few years into my current job, I spent 10 days bedridden (or, having been banished to the basement, futon-ridden), and watched the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy over and over, since I needed something that would occupy my mind enough to distract me from my suffering, but I couldn’t [...]

Cyberculture | Design | Literature | Modding | PopCult | SciFi | Technology

Have 40 years of mobile phones given literature bad lines?

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The X Files did a good job of embracing the mobile phone to advance the plot. One character is sneaking around a warehouse, while another character is in a lab coat, frowning at a test tube. One calls the other, they quickly explain (for the benefit of the audience) what they are doing, and then [...]

Aesthetics | Amusing | Culture | Drama | Media | Modding | PopCult

Review of “Dodge Intrepid and the Pages of Time”

I’ve been a fan of the Dodge Intrepid shows from the beginning. The voice of the daring librarian is Mike Rubino, a Seton Hill alum whom I only had in one or two classes, but who made himself known on the young Seton Hill blogosphere (and as a columnist and cartoonist for the student paper).

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Amusing | Culture | History | Media | PopCult

Spitballing Indy: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and the creation of Indiana Jones

Interesting glimpse into the creative process.

The hero, Lucas explains, is a globe-trotting archaeologist, “a bounty hunter of antiquities.” He’s a professor, a Ph.D.—“People call him doctor.” But he’s a little “rough and tumble.”

As the men hash out the Jones iconography, they refer, incessantly, to other films, invoking Eastwood, Bond, and Mifune. He [...]

Personal | PopCult

My 10yo Sings “Hopelessly Devoted to You”

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Aesthetics | Amusing | Cyberculture | Drama | PopCult

Today’s Google Doodle is Mostly Harmless

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Ford Prefect kept a script of Godspell in his satchel, by the way, in order to support his cover story of being an actor. I used an image from the cover of “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish” in a slide presentation I used as a prop on stage during the “Tower of [...]