Monthly Archives: August 2011

Currently Reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Mike Nam

Just started reading a new novel titled Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. After finding it difficult to put down last night and groggily heading into work this morning, I can honestly say I am really, really digging it thus … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged 1980s, 80s, classic, dystopia, Ernest Cline, geeks, nerds, nostalgia, pop culture, Ready Player One, science fiction, tv shows, video games | Leave a comment

Article on Climate Change Scientist Being Cleared Goes Waaay Off the Rails

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Mike Nam

Not long ago, a Penn State climatologist named Michael Mann became embroiled in a controversy about statistical methods used in interpreting climate data (there’s a timeline of the incident on the website of the Union of Concerned Scientists). The news … Continue reading →

Posted in End of the World, Grammar, Science is Real | Tagged aliens, charges, cleared, climate change, climate denialism, climate study, Climategate, destruction, exonerated, global warming, International Business Times, invasion, Michael Mann, National Science Foundation, Penn State University, statistics | Leave a comment

The Flintstones Candidates: A Plague of GOP Evolution Deniers

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Mike Nam

Rick Perry really shows off his ignorance in New Hampshire: “How old do I think the earth is? You know what, I don’t have any idea,” said the Texas governor when asked about his position on the issue by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bad Religion, Error! Error!, Famous people say the darndest things, Science is Real | Tagged anti-evolution, anti-intellectualism, candidate, creationism, education, evolution, GOP, ignorance, intelligent design, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, presidential candidates, Republican, Republicans, Rick Perry, right-wing, Ron Paul, science | Leave a comment

Petty Legislative Aide Cheers Layoff of Newspaper Workers

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Mike Nam

Might as well join the chorus of negative reactions to this minor functionary, Jon Yapo, legislative assistant for Florida state House Rep. Jason Brodeur, who decided to crow about workers at a newspaper losing their jobs. As Scott Maxwell of … Continue reading →

Posted in The Dying Papers | Tagged copy editors, Florida, Jason Brodeur, jobs, Jon Yapo, layoffs, legislative assistant, loss of jobs, Orlando Sentinel, page designers, Representative Jason Brodeur, schadenfreude, tweet, twitter, unemployment | Leave a comment

Druyan and Sagan: A Wedding Reading about a Cosmic Romance

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Mike Nam

This past weekend I was a groomsman in a good friend’s wedding. He had asked me to select a reading of some kind to be given during the ceremony, a piece that would speak about love without the trappings of … Continue reading →

Posted in Famous people say the darndest things, Metaphors and Similes, Science is Real | Tagged Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan, cosmic, engaged, engagement, hope, humanism, love, marriage, NPR, Radiolab, readings, romance, science, secular, space, speeches, spiritual, Voyager, weddings | 1 Comment

Bookstores: Islands in a Storm of UK Rioting?

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Mike Nam

Heartening to some extent I suppose. Bookshops avoid major damage in London rioting Except, is it because those looting aren’t readers? To ask that, I guess, is to almost be offended that rioters didn’t make off with a box full … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Tropes and Stereotypes | Tagged angry youths, bikes, books, bookshops, bookstores, Britain, England, looting, rioting, riots, stealing, UK, vandalism, vandals | Leave a comment

Spice Girls Musical??

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Mike Nam

Here are some words I wouldn’t have thought I’d be reading after 1998: Spice Girls Musical ‘Viva Forever’ In The Works We live in a world dominated by people wanting to be famous. What the Spice Girls did was before … Continue reading →

Posted in End of the World, Rumors/Gossip | Tagged fame, Judy Craymer, musical, Spice Girls, stage, theater, Viva Forever | Leave a comment

Newsweek, Michele Bachmann and Sexism

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Mike Nam

So, was the recent Newsweek cover featuring Michele Bachmann sexist as Jessica Grose of Slate contends? Did Newsweek go too far as Tierney Sneed of U.S. News & World Report asks? They, and some outraged conservatives, may have a point … Continue reading →

Posted in Tropes and Stereotypes | Tagged bias, chauvinist, conservatives, cover, equality, eyes, fair, feminism, gender politics, liberals, Michele Bachmann, Newsweek, politics, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, satire, sexist, sexualization, stare, unflattering | 2 Comments

The Smell Test: Why the IE6 Hoax Should Have Raised Doubts on its Face

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Mike Nam

A few days ago the media was all abuzz with a story about research that posited a correlation between low IQ and users of Internet Explorer 6 (the browser being on its ninth version now). Turns out, the company that … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Headlines, Retractions and Corrections, Sourcing, Tropes and Stereotypes | Tagged ApTiquant, AtCheap, deception, doubt, dumb, fact checking, fraud, hoax, IE6, intelligence, Internet Explorer 6, IQ, jumping to conclusions, media, red flags, research, skeptic, skeptical, skepticism, tell-tale signs, Wechsler | 3 Comments

Attack the Block — See It!

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Mike Nam

So, this weekend I skipped the complex struggle, the natural duality between an expensive, Hollywood spectacle and a paint-by-numbers kiddie alternative: Cowboys Vs. Aliens and The Smurfs. Instead, I went with the limited release of Attack the Block, a film about inner … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Critique | Tagged action, alien invasion, aliens, Attack the Block, block, England, film, horror, housing estate, London, Monster Squad, movie, review, sci-fi, UK | Leave a comment