I think it’s interesting how conceptions on pop-culture phenomena change over a given time; positive and negative connotations switch places, and even the meaning of the name isn’t stable. Take comic books, for example: for most of the 20th Century they were looked down upon as just-for-kids, childish funnies that grown adults had no reason … More Everything Bad is Good
When I was a kid, I always wanted a dog that’d act like the ones you see on TV, the Old Yeller or Lassie style of canine companion—a dog that would sleep at the foot of your bed, snuggled up to you, with all the loyalty and security of having some large, tamed canid just … More File Under Obvious
Poasting will continue when technical difficulties conclude.
Needless to say, I’m done with the 30 Days of TV thing. While it did get me posting again, and regularly, I swamped myself with vacations and trips and guests and etc., so keeping up a regular daily post count was a pain in the ass. Hence the various missed days. And even though I … More On the State of Things
Somewhat of a tie in to the last post (overly technical analysis of firearms ballistics against fantasy/SF tropes), I noticed a list on Cracked deconstructing action movie injuries. You can’t swing a dead cat without coming up with most of these in a given action movie: knocking people out with blows to the head, people … More Action Movie Physics
Probably going a bit too technical, especially into things which solely exist to kill and maim other people… but… While watching The Walking Dead back to back leading up to the finale, it struck me how woefully unprepared the U.S. Military is for combating undead. Seeing the abandoned tanks and barricades surrounded by corpses is … More Firearms and the Supernatural
I’m about a month late about this, but apparently triceratops didn’t exist. (I noticed this in Rolling Stone last week, so maybe I’m not as late as I could be.) As a once and future dinosaur fan, this news was… well, cringe-worthy. Like when Pluto was determined to be a lump of frozen methane and … More Triceratops Didn’t Exist?
Thrilling Tales of the Downright Unusual. Stumbled onto this site, purely by accident, only to be highly entertained by its collection of retro-themed science fiction. Besides the generator, there’s some choose-your-own-adventure books in the ’30s pulp sf vein, which is the main focus of the site. It’s free, being funded by donations and purchases at … More The Random Pulp SF Title Generator
I’ve always been fascinated by the use of slang language in books, film, and gaming. Thanks to the internet, it’s easy to find resources for these. For example: 1736 Canting Dictionary: Since 1st Edition, rogues (“thieves”) have had access to a special language called Thieves’ Cant. In case you were unaware, it’s the slang used … More Get With the Lingo
Having already touched on cant a few weeks ago, and being in a very pulp-centric mood, here’s another dictionary link: the glossary of hardboiled slang. Yes, you too can now talk like Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, or the Continental Op, all in the comfort of your own roleplaying game (or home, or workplace, or wherever … More Pulps Galore
Logic is my Virgin Sacrifice to Reality 