Just because we make up our own new pantheon, doesn't mean the old's gone. In fact, one of the prevailing inspirations for fiction is mythology: both ancient, and modern folklore. For a single example, David Pfanner wrote [...]
Real Modern Day Myths
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Sunday, October 20, 2013
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LINK: Showcase creativity, not racism, this halloween
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Saturday, October 12, 2013
You really shouldn't have to ask why you can't dress like a 'Gypsy,' an 'Indian' or 'a Mexican in a sombrero,' a 'tribal person,' a 'tiki person,' or wear blackface when Halloween comes around.
But here's a reminder if you do have to, or if you want [...]
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Feeding the Trolls: Social Media in Politics
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Friday, October 11, 2013
Anyone who has ever had access to comment boxes, discussion threads, or any kind of unmoderated forum knows what trolls are. Well, maybe not everybody; the definition's been a bit muddied, but the original one is still [...]
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Link: Blaming Rape Culture on Social Media
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Thursday, October 10, 2013
Thinkprogress' Tara Culp-Ressler reports on the blaming of rape culture on social media. Every media major and sociology major who reads it groans (or ought to groan) in recognition and agreement:
The takeaway from these [...]
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Link: Demanding Representation of Black Girl Nerds in Geek Culture
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Wednesday, October 9, 2013
When Chaka Cumberbach asks her readers to name some black female superheroes, she mentions that the nerdiest among us might forgo Storm and remember Bumblebee, Nubia, or Misty Knight. However, for anybody less comics-savvy, [...]
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Nature vs. Technology: A Harmful Theme in Advertising
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Example: Orange Juice.
Evan Stewart at the Society Pages notes that there's not a single person in this commercial below.
Pictured: Fresh lies are a part of a balanced breakfast.
This is weird, because nice homogeneous [...]
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Link: Can Social Media Save NASA?
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Monday, October 7, 2013
Selena Larson of ReadWrite made an interesting conclusion: For NASA's 55th anniversary on October 1, it got a government shutdown and completely frozen funding. 97% of its employees, many scientists and other highly educated [...]
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Link: While Superheroes Conquer Media, Comic Books Battle Stigma
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Sunday, October 6, 2013
This article by Melissa Rayworth of the Arkon Beacon Journal reports well on a very strange phenomenon: the mass-media bullies that once and still bully comics for being either too childish or too adult, too intellectual/nerdy [...]
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Analysis of a Parthian Shot.
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Saturday, October 5, 2013
Is this now going to be a short series on feedback media? OK, I guess this is now a short series on feedback media.
A few days ago, I discussed how feedback can create a dialog between consumers and content producers. [...]
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Are Banned Books and Bad Science Connected?
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Friday, October 4, 2013
According to Kevin C. Pyle author of upcoming book Bad For You, an exploration of the 'war on fun', and Scott Cunningham: Yes. And they answer it with a comic.
The 'he' being Fredric Wertham, and the answer [...]
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Bill Nye the Real Fly Science Guy
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Thursday, October 3, 2013
I, like many others, have childhood television memories. Not to say I was parked on the couch often; I remember eating dinner (plain spaghetti, with Parmesan cheese) and watching Bill Nye the Science Guy on PBS.
BILL [...]
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Link: Seven Things I Learned from Reading the Hobbit.
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Wednesday, October 2, 2013
It's a geeky forecast, today.
The authors of the minimalist MS-Paint webcomic A Hard Hobbit to Break published a really great essay on the 7 largest themes in J. R. R. Tolkein's The Hobbit and how they can relate [...]
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Talk Nerdy to Me.
Posted by Alexandra Salazar on Tuesday, October 1, 2013
There's a fairly popular cultural meme that there isn't just a nerd, there is a super nerd, the one who knows Klingon and can speak it, too. Perish the thought of this being for squares only. Stephen Colbert can speak Quenya.
Here's a handy introduction [...]
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