One White Guy’s Take on “Multiculturalism” and Steampunk
Given the sorry state of inter-cultural relations in our world it isn’t any surprise that the Steampunk community also suffers from issues of intolerance and obliviousness. In general, I think that we do better than a lot of sub-cultures at celebrating difference and embracing diversity. But we also have to police ourselves far more since [...]
Rape, Abortion, and Creepy Guys with Control Issues
<Fair warning: As part of my general plan to be personally happier I mostly excised news about politics from my life. However, the recent Akin abortion-rape trainwreck made it through my filters and pushed so many Handmaid’s Tale buttons that when I saw this video last night at 3 am I just couldn’t leave it [...]
Don’t shoot me, bro
I’m sure that this will be discussed ad nauseum by various talking heads (assuming they can take a break from arguing over whether or not Lance Armstrong cheated, arguing over whether that matters, but agreeing that buying Livestrong bracelets is probably the best thing anyone can do to fight cancer) – but I’m still impressed by the fact [...]
Things in Boxes
If you want to know whether the cat is alive; you have to look in the box. But then you have to deal with the fact that it might be dead. Of course, you can always just get a new cat. But maybe it’s better just not to know.
Searching for Magic
I’ve never had the drive to search out the Divine. I’m not sure whether that’s a genetic thing or an Episcopalian one – but I always assumed that God was an old white guy with a beard who was going to make sure that things went okay for me, or that there was no God, or [...]
It does not end this way; not with a whimper . . .
I’m still digesting the psychological fallout from my trip today to the abandoned Detroit Book Depository – formerly the Roosevelt Warehouse, formerly the Detroit Post Office. I’m going to write more and post many more pictures . . . but I just had to share this one tonight: It’s a photograph of the Michigan Central Station, [...]
The Ghosts of Marion
“Just because we invented Gods, who’s to say that doesn’t make them real? We invented poetry and steam engines too.” Over time you come to know a town’s ghosts. If Ann Arbor has any they’re soft and near-invisible things – unable to wrap their ectoplasmic tendrils round anything solid. Forever shredded by the jaded eyes [...]
Dove Hunting?
I’m on a few mailing lists for hunting supply stores, as I’ve on occasion been known to buy animal parts (particularly feathers) for fashion purposes. This morning I received an email announcing the apparently much anticipated beginning of “Dove Season.” From one perspective . . . who cares. It’s just another animal and we kill [...]
Making Sure Your Heroes Aren’t Vampires
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was no Citizen Kane. I’m not even sure how well it worked as an historical fantasy action movie. It certainly outpaced a disaster like the similarly timed Jonah Hex and got points from me for playing it straight rather than indulging in goofy cultural anachronism like Wild Wild West; however, its [...]
On Deciding to be a Hero
“I’m only good because I want to be.” Those were the words spoken by the half-demon little sister of the X-men’s Colossus, Illyana Rasputin, as she lamented the fact that her diabolic nature urged her to evil. Her brother only laughed and replied that that just made her exactly like everyone else. This weekend marked [...]
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