Apple’s newest toys have many looking at their wallets and crying just a bit. Of course, the reviews by consumer electronics blogs take window-shopping to a new level. Of all the gadgets and gizmos talked about, the one that I wish I could drop a pretty penny on isn’t an Apple product though. One of the more eye-catching products puts even the highly-anticipated iPad (retina … [Read more...] about Brain Fodder: Big Kid Toys
Archives for October 2012
Cinderella Goes to War
Kurt Vonnegut seemed to like the story of Cinderella. He alluded to it often. I submit that he went so far as to write his own version. He called it Slaughterhouse-Five. My claim may well be preposterous. Slaughterhouse-Five is not shiny or moralistic like fairy tales. It breaks most of the rules of narrative that fairy tales, particularly Cinderella, rigidly follow. Yet there … [Read more...] about Cinderella Goes to War
TV Culture: Is “Mad Men” Racist?
I hopped on the Mad Men bandwagon extremely late. In fact, I started watching the first season just a few weeks ago for a television writing class. Mad Men has done spectacular things for television since its anticipated debut in 2007. The series has garnered praise for its dedicated exploration of vintage New York and its sobering depictions of gender roles in 1960s America. … [Read more...] about TV Culture: Is “Mad Men” Racist?
Male Gazes, Pin-Up Girls & One Man’s Escape
Although there are no lead actresses in Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption, women and their manifestations play a vital role in the protagonist Andy Dufresne’s life and escape from Shawshank Prison. Feminist theory identifies the ‘male gaze’ or scopophiliac desire - traditionally the desirous gaze of male characters directed at female ones – as a pervasive cinematic … [Read more...] about Male Gazes, Pin-Up Girls & One Man’s Escape
Eric Weintraub
Eric Weintraub is an avid writer whose interest in immigration sparked a summer-long research project on the issue. He now regularly blogs about undocumented immigration along the Arizona and California/Mexico borders. http://undocumentedarizona.com … [Read more...] about Eric Weintraub