“Using the same standards that categorize 90% of science fiction as trash, crud, or crap, it can be argued that 90% of film, literature, consumer goods, etc. is crap” – Theodore Sturgeon (Sturgeon’s Revelation) This is commonly revised to “Ninety percent of everything is crap,” and simply called Sturgeon’s Law. Sturgeon was an author and a critic of horror and science fiction and saw that the genres had their faults, but…
The Super Bowl is an annual spectacle of brute force, finesse, strategy and, of course, marketing. For many Americans, the actual game of gridiron is second fiddle to the extravaganzas at the periphery. Since at least 2004, when we had the infamous “wardrobe malfunction,” the Super Bowl halftime show has been as big a deal as the game itself. For even longer, the Super Bowl has been precious advertising time….
I drive around listening to NPR, like the good little brainwashed semi-millennial/semi-Gen-X college grad that I am. On a recent trip, I was listening to the Diane Rehm show. For those unfamiliar, Diane Rehm is the godmother of talk radio, particularly in the Washington, D.C. area. She’s been the host of her show—a roundtable panel discussion on the radio, which she moderates with an iron fist—for decades, and it is…
I’m the gamer. I say that like it defines me, but that’s fitting since we do it with games too. Is this game a AAA game or an indie game? Is it a shooter or a strategy game? We use these definitions to help put games, and people, into boxes that we can understand without getting to know what they’re really about. Sometimes this works as short-hand jargon. It’s…