X-rays may not seem the likeliest of artistic mediums, but let’s be honest. Despite potentially morbid diagnoses and comparisons to Where’s Waldo? or Rorschach tests, X-ray prints possess a distinctive aesthetic that can mesmerize even folk who don’t frequent…
Massaging the Medium with Marshall McLuhan
Review of McLuhan for Beginners by W. Terrence Gordon, with illustrations by Susan Willmarth. A book like McLuhan for Beginners, then, is a timely wakeup call to take a moment and consider one of the 20th century’s foremost media and culture theorists even if that consideration reveals…
Can Baggers Be Choosers?
[Editor’s Note: On Monday evening at 7, the City Council, meeting in Council Chambers at City Hall, will discuss a proposed ban on single-use plastic bags.] If nothing else, the proposed ban on plastic bags has ignited a much-needed public discussion on our environmental impact, with a focus on two issues: Public health and resource management. The most pressing question that arises is this: Do you wash your underwear?
Science Fiction’s Forget-Me-Not
Like Lucifer, only without the theological trappings of sin, Joseph Kosinski set out to bring some light into the normally dimly-lit visions of Hollywood science fiction. It’s a logical step. His work on Tron: Legacy was entirely rooted in the play of light on dark in an agile, design-driven cinematography of contrast.
Oz the Mostly Great and, Surprisingly, Powerful
A review of Oz the Great and Powerful. I cannot say…that the renewed interest in the land of munchkins and yellow bricks road did anything to revise my rather lukewarm relationship to anything Oz-related.
A Debate That’s Out of (Gun) Control, Part 2
Another understandable, albeit less reasonable, concern on the part of the gun lobby is the worry that arises from requiring universal background checks, an idea that strikes gun rights advocates like the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre as equivalent to a gun registry. If the government knows who has guns, the argument goes, they will know where to go to confiscate those guns. But let’s consider the conceptual difference between a universal background check and a gun registry.
A Debate That’s Out of (Gun) Control
In discussing gun rights and gun control, let’s begin with a clarification: While gun bans can be elements of gun control policy, the reverse isn't necessarily true. Gun control is, by definition, a set of policies intended to manage the ownership and use of firearms. Inconveniently, perhaps, for gun rights ideologues, the very idea of gun control begins the moment we…
Les Miserables: Victory Over Revenge
I never did get the chance to see the theatrical production of Les Miserables; such are the vagaries of the calendar. Fortunately, there is this magnificent film from the director of the superlative crowd-pleaser, The King’s Speech.
Peering Into Windows 8 (Part 2)
After almost two weeks of working with Windows 8, I’ve gained enough experience to reinforce my suspicion that critics of the OS are either operating with a bias against Microsoft or are simply old dogs whimpering at new tricks. An unfair characterization, no doubt, but I remain baffled at the hostility towards Windows 8. In my experience, Windows is just like Windows 7, only with a Start screen instead of a Start menu.
Peering Through Windows 8 (Part 1)
If you believe the tech trades and the various opinionators who lurk in the articles’ comments section, Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8, is the second coming of the much-maligned Windows Vista or, if you really want to give yourself the heebie-jeebies, Microsoft Bob…After a week working with Windows 8 on my office workstation, I'm gaining enough experience to reach a verdict of my own. Thus, the questions: Is Windows 8 a win or a fail?