Category: TV

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Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, by William Stolzenburg

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On the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, ecology professor Robert T. Paine threw starfish into the sea.  In Alaska, killer whales preyed on sea otters.  In the northern forests of Wisconsin, massive deer herds mowed down several species of wildflower.  What do these disparate actions have in common?  In Where the Wild Things Were: life, death, and ecological wreckage in a land of vanishing predators, author and nature columnist William Stolzenburg explores what happens when top-tier predators go extinct.  Discussing several case studies, ranging from the tiny starfish to the polar bear-eating killer whale, Stolzenburg shows the ecological devastation following … Continue reading Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, by William Stolzenburg

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Guild Musings, The Internet, TV2 Comments

Guild Musings: Musing #1: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

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“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – Gil Scott-Heron Note: To avoid confusion, italics will differentiate the Guild (show) from the Guild (group of characters). Two episodes into its third season, The Guild has become an Internet phenomenon.  The show follows the comic misadventures of various gamers associated with The Knights of Good, a guild in a MMORPG [Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game].  While the game they play involves mythical creatures, fantastic quests, and cool costumes, the shows follows their day-to-day lives.  In another nod to the MMORPG, the players do not address each other by their real names … Continue reading Guild Musings: Musing #1: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

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cars, The Art of Reviewing, TVLeave a comment

The Art of Reviewing: Jeremy Clarkson

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Source: The London Times Every blog needs a large-scale project. The Art of Reviewing will explore reviewing as an art form and as a valuable element to understanding society.  During this project, I will profile specific reviewers of merit.  Several specific cases also explore other facets of reviewing. Jeremy Clarkson.  Depending on whom you talk to, mentioning his name usually follows adulation or vilification.  The tall, shaggy-haired presenter of Top Gear and Driving columnist for the London Times, brings a sensational edge to the staid world of automobile reviewing. Prone to bombastic statements, dismissive of anti-pollution legislation, and a worshipful … Continue reading The Art of Reviewing: Jeremy Clarkson

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book reviews, books, Critical Appraisals, film, TVLeave a comment

Vineland and the Pynchon Canon: A Critical Appraisal

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Introduction: “The bums lost.” The Big Lebowski: Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski. Condolences. The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski? The Dude walks out and shuts the door. The Big Lebowski: The bums will always lose! Brandt: How was your meeting, Mr. Lebowski? The Dude: Okay. The old man told me to take any rug in the house. The Big Lebowski (1998) – Los Bros. Coen In 1990 saw the publication of Vineland, by Thomas Pynchon.  The novel concerned the … Continue reading Vineland and the Pynchon Canon: A Critical Appraisal

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Dollhouse Riffs, TVLeave a comment

Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #3: “Epitaph One” and the mutability of the Dollhouse Canon

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Los Angeles, 2019: Another ‘Verse.  Another Vision.  More Human Than Human. L to R: Scut Farkas, Little Miss Sunshine, Codex. Apocalypse Now That’s What I Call Entertainment The TV series Dollhouse faces a unique canonical situation with “Epitaph One.”  The episode was produced but unaired, while the series was renewed for another season.  With Season 2 unseen and speculation rife, with a series finale full of cliffhangers and unanswered, where does one place “Epitaph One”? The title name winks at the possibility of the series ending.  The episode’s narrative and setting allude to finality.  Set in the year 2019 in … Continue reading Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #3: “Epitaph One” and the mutability of the Dollhouse Canon

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books, Critic's Notebook, Dollhouse Riffs, TVLeave a comment

Critic’s Notebook: Whedon, Pynchon, and the Flexible Canon

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In the next few days, I’ll be posting another Dollhouse Riff.  Riff #3 will focus on the unaired episode “epitaph one” and how it relates to the Dollhouse Canon.  I will also write a Critical Appraisal of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland.  For years, Vineland has been relegated to second banana status in the Pynchon Canon.  With the publication of Inherent Vice, the Pynchon Canon requires that we re-examine the works and their critical status. Continue reading Critic’s Notebook: Whedon, Pynchon, and the Flexible Canon

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Dollhouse Riffs, TVLeave a comment

The Best TV Shows You’re Not Watching

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“I missed the season finale to Dancing with the Stars!  Damn you, crystal bucket!” One of the benefits of the Internet and blogging is an opportunity to write for other ventures.  If you don’t know already, I am also a regular contributor to Blogcritics.org. I recently had another opportunity present itself with the website The Best TV Shows You’re Not Watching. On the Driftless Area Review, I’ve written “Dollhouse Riffs,” essays discussing the more controversial thematic elements of Joss Whedon’s new series, Dollhouse. With the renewal of Dollhouse, I’ll write more thematic essays for Season 2. Continue reading The Best TV Shows You’re Not Watching

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Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #2: Bodies, Souls, and the Big Bad

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“When you will have made him a body without organs, then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions and restored him to his true freedom.” Antonin Artaud, “To Have Done with the Judgment of God” (1947) “The Earth is a body without organs. This body without organs is permeated by unformed, unstable matters, by flows in all directions, by free intensities or nomadic singularities, by mad or transitory particles” Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (1987) Malcolm Reynolds, Angel, Buffy, Joss, and River In the Whedonverse, there are the Big Damn Heroes and the Big … Continue reading Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #2: Bodies, Souls, and the Big Bad

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Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #1: Dollhouse, the Dollhouse, and “freedom”

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How free are those that control Dollhouse, compared to the dolls? Topher and Sierra’s “play date” occurred under the nose of Adele.  Adele, smartly, lets it pass.  Without it, Topher would be driven nuts.  Or is this “play date” used as an opiate, a distraction for Topher.  Is Topher also a doll?  (A theory forwarded by my girlfriend.  I think there is some merit to it.) The play date creates a carnival atmosphere, a great leveling that occurs between the powerful genius and the pliant doll. A similar leveling occurs when Victor is programmed to help Miss Lonelyhearts, in this … Continue reading Dollhouse Riffs: Riff #1: Dollhouse, the Dollhouse, and “freedom”

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