Context: This essay was written for, and performed in, the November 19, 2011 edition of The Paper Machete, a weekly showcase for Chicago journalists, comedians, and other writers, hosted by Christopher Piatt. I’m just getting around to posting it now because, well, my own universe is fairly chaotic and other deadlines prevailed. You are encouraged […]
Entries Tagged as 'Books'
The Unbearable Lightness of the Kilogram, Universes Next Door, and the Occupy Movement
November 29th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Books, Chicago, Culture, Essays, Fringe, Journalism, News, Performance, Politics, Science, The Economy, Stupid, TV, Writing
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The King’s Speech and The Writer’s Prayer
January 5th, 2011 · 4 Comments · Books, Culture, Film, Fringe, Journal, Neo-Futurists, Performance, Poetry, Theater, Writing
I saw The King’s Speech a few nights ago, and I think it’s the film most relevant to my own experience that I’ve seen in a very long time. The thing is, it’s not just a charming historical drama about royalty and speech therapy; it’s about people who allow their own anxieties and self-doubt to […]
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Wordslingers Appearance Now Online, and Poem of the Week on Deep Dish
June 4th, 2008 · Comments Off on Wordslingers Appearance Now Online, and Poem of the Week on Deep Dish · Blogs, Books, Chicago, Culture, Fringe, Journal, Lit, Performance, Poetry, Politics
For those of you who didn’t hear it on the public airwaves a couple of weeks back, because you were busy painting your toenails or defending the earth or something, my appearance on the Wordslingers poetry radio show from Sunday 5/18 is now online in the Vox Cafe archive on the Wordslingers Web site — […]
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Capes and Crumpets with Roz Kaveney
May 4th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Blogroll, Blogs, Books, Chicago, Culture, Doctor Who, Journal, LGBT, Lit, Science Fiction, TV
Speaking of people on my blogroll: Pop culture critic, blogger, and transgendered activist extroardinaire Roz Kaveney of Silence Exile and Crumpets was just in town, promoting her new book Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films — which I’m hoping to crack the covers of eventually. Roz is brilliant at analyzing the various mechanics […]
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Comical Cartoon Comics
April 22nd, 2008 · 1 Comment · Books, Comics, Culture, Nature, Politics
Because I haven’t brought you your funnies in a while … • Tom the Dancing Bug’s Super-Fun-Pak Comix. … T’Aint no evolution! • Matt Bors: Let’s ask a multi-millionaire who sounds like a redneck! … Ya follow? • Opus: What to take if your nipples shoot sparks. • Tom Toles: Constructing the angry tea-drinking elitist. […]
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R.O.U.S.
December 18th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Books, Comedy, Fantasy, Film, Nature, News, Science
More breaking news from the world of fantasy science: A giant rodent five times the size of a common rat has been discovered in the mountainous jungles of New Guinea. The 1.4kg Mallomys giant rat is one of two species of mammal thought to be new to science documented on an expedition to an area […]
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Force of Hobbit
December 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Force of Hobbit · Books, Culture, Fantasy, Film, News
Looks like the film version of The Hobbit is going to happen after all. And it’s going to be a two-parter (because they sell more popcorn like that, see). New Line and filmmaker Peter Jackson have resolved their differences over Jackson’s profit participation over the $3 billion-grossing “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, paving the way […]
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Roundup: Flight of the Humpback Edition
November 19th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Flight of the Humpback Edition · Apple, Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Feminism, Fiction, Film, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, Politics, Religion, Software, Tech, The Economy, Stupid, Torture
Markos from Daily Kos has a new gig writing opinion pieces for Newsweek, and he’s been in rare form with his first couple of efforts. From this week’s column: “In his first Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan remarked that ‘government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.’ While the quip has provided […]
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Norman Mailer Yap Attack
November 12th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Blogs, Books, Culture, LGBT, Lit, News, Pets
The most entertaining Norman Mailer story I’ve read since the wake began: “The stories of his macho posturing are legion, from the time he dismissed America’s leading women writers as ‘fey, old hat, quaintsy and dykily psychotic’, to the day he encountered a passing punk while walking his poodles in Brooklyn. According to Peter Manso’s […]
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Chicago Notes: Spukt, Sweat Girls, Mr. Fluxus, Andy Bayiates, and More
November 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on Chicago Notes: Spukt, Sweat Girls, Mr. Fluxus, Andy Bayiates, and More · Astrology, Blogs, Books, Chicago, Comedy, Culture, Fantasy, Fiction, Foreign Policy, Fringe, History, Journal, Lit, Neo-Futurists, News, Performance, Politics, Theater
It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these little Chicago roundups, but there are so many head-splittingly good things going on this week that it seems like a dandy time to reinstate the tradition. • First up, this weekend is the opening of the brand-new Theater Oobleck show Spukt, written by the mercurial Dave […]
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Roundup: Where All the Corn Cobs Are Edition
October 29th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Where All the Corn Cobs Are Edition · Advertising, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Death Penalty, Fantasy, Fiction, Film, Food, Health, Healthcare Crisis, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Internet, Labor, Law, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech
In order to keep these roundups fresh as a spring daisy, I usually discard any links I’ve been keeping around that are more than a week old. But since this is OcPot’s first roundup in more than six weeks, I’m extending the freshness window slightly to include a few things that were just too good […]
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