Chasing Dragons

Weekend Reading Roundup v. 54

This weekend in the reading roundup:

• 'Partners with Apartheid' by Sasha Polakow-Suransky at guernicamag.com

• 'Bangkok: The Future of Urban War' by Martin Coward at martincoward.net

• 'Darth Vader's Guide to Winning Your Political Campaign' at killercampaigning.com

• 'France's Pupils to View Cinema Classics in the Classroom' by Lizzy Davies at guardian.co.uk

• 'Why Middlesex Matters' by Jon Protevi at timeshigher.co.uk (or why it is an unwise decision to close the highly regarded philosophy department at Middlesex University)

• And last but not least, 'The Coalition: Our Programme for Government' (see paragraph 1, p. 35 for the true priority) available here

Enjoy your weekend!

Photo credit: kevindooley

UK Election 2010: Shiver Me Timbers, It's Mad Cap'n Tom

Since I moved here, one of the things that I've noticed that the UK does really well is light-hearted eccentricity. And as an article by Toby Lichtig in today's Guardian outlines, what better opportunity for the gregarious eccentric than an election?

What strikes me as important here is what can eccentricity tell us about the political culture within which it  becomes manifest? In North America, when one thinks of an eccentric, images of compounds, weapons caches, messianic pretensions, and hard-core paranoia come to mind. This is not to say that the UK does not have its own share of this type of eccentric. But more often British political eccentricity appears to be expressed in humorous and less confrontational ways. And Map Cap'n Tom seems to embody the best of that goofy self-deprecating spirit.

Weekend Reading Roundup v. 40

This weekend as a change of pace, we have a video roundup:

Have a good weekend!

Minimalist Film Posters

After all of the heaviness of yesterday's post, a palette cleanser is definitely in order.

So here is something a bit lighter: film posters re-imagined with a minimalist sensibility. Above is Star Wars.

And here is The Shining.

But, I think the most clever is for Pulp Fiction.

Anyhow, you can see more of these awesome designs here.

What's your favourite?

Image credits: Graphic Nothing

Humor in Hard Times

There's a very cool feature over at the New York Times where cultural theorists and practitioners examine the constellation formed by politics, economic crisis, and humor. There's some interesting food for thought, particularly with regard to role played by late night talk shows in constituting the zeitgeist of the American public.

At the same time, I am surprised that there was no discussion of whether comedy and humor have become increasingly polarized with regard to satirical targets and the ideological content of jokes. Similarly, it was interesting to note that the potential contributions of class, race and gender--both of performers and intended audiences-- to the dynamics underpinning humor were largely ignored.

Photo credit:  JasonDGreat

Weekend Reading Roundup v. 12

On a wet and soggy day in the Northeast of England, here are some of the better reads I've come across this week:

• 'Birthers Must Be Stopped' by Bill Mahr via the LA Times

• 'The Beer-ometer Says...' from poppolitics.com

• 'When Satire was More Than Funny' by Steven Heller via designobserver.com

Have a good weekend--and for those in Canada enjoy the civic holiday!

Photo credit: SanyamStudios

Did the Rumsfeld Briefings Come With Crayons?

Over at GQ, there is a wonderfully disturbing slide show of the covers of intelligence briefings prepared by Donald Rumsfeld for the Whitehouse around the beginning of the second Iraq War. Given the school-boy aesthetic at play, my only question is whether these things came with crayons and some activities to keep George preoccupied during the grown-up talk?

Note: The maze is a personal remix of one found at kidsdomain.com