Bulletin Board of the Brain

This Fiction-Embedded Ambivalent Environmental Message Has Been Brought To You By: Boringness

Kj — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:25:42 +0000

The People of Sparks (The Ember Series, #2) by Jeanne DuPrau

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I thought this book would never end. Though I’ve been loving my journey through juvenile and young adult fantasy fiction- this series by Jeanne DuPrau may be one that really is meant to just be read by ten year-olds. I was bored throughout and got a severe headache from the way the book’s themes were hammered against my head. While I believe great writing- even for children- can always be nuanced as opposed to overt and literal- the hammering might not have been so obnoxious if I was 11 instead of 30.

But basically- this is Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” if it was told as a children’s story. While “People of Sparks” was published first- the post-apocalyptic theme is hard not to intertext. But DuPrau draws lines both too blindly optimistic and too contrived, to actually make a compelling story or three dimensional characters. It’s unclear if her message is Go Green or World Peace- and while the two should be able to coexist within her story- this second book in the series muddles what seemed to be a clear anti-consumerism/pro-environment message in the first (City of Ember).

Basically- it’s hard to believe that this book is recommended to the same age group that the Golden Compass is marketed to. If Golden Compass is an example of what authors and book publishers feel ten year olds can read, follow and enjoy, then to give them People of Sparks seems like saying to a reader, “Hey- you like Anna Karenina? Then you’ll love Bridget Jones’ Diary!”

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Normalcy

Kj — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:01:38 +0000

…does not run in my family

Weirdest Birthday Greeting I’ve Ever Sent

Kj — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:25:58 +0000

“If you were Queen Victoria under the controlling hand of Sir John Conroy, this would be the first day you could actually step into your power as sovereign. So glad neither of you ever had to sign a regency order. Happy 25th!”

Theology Collage- Literally

Kj — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:02:00 +0000

For my current theology class, we were invited to share our “vision of the Church”, in audio or visual if we preferred, rather than writing a paper. I made a little collage which will really only make sense to me. I’m not still not used to being graded. Thanks Bennington.

gotta click on it I guess

Ah…the Pleasures of Juxtaposition

Kj — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:41:46 +0000

From Joshua, the consummate minimalist

(Un)Common Denominators of the Last Six Films I’ve Watched…

Kj — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:49:30 +0000

Kelly Reilly and Rupert Friend.

Out of this list…

Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Lars and the Real Girl
The Darjeeling Limited
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
The Libertine
The Young Victoria

…Two films of which they were in together.

Just noting a pattern.

Also, a shout out to Rosamund Pike for appearing in 3 of the last SEVEN movies I’ve watched. I feel as though I’ve been watching a repertory company.

Damn I miss theatre.

Living in Lent

Kj — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:44:22 +0000

Historically, Lent is both a time of preparation and a time of longing. In the early church, it was a time to prepare for baptism, which in the midst of intense persecution meant preparing for death. You underwent a spiritual death and rebirth so that you no longer had to fear physical death. In Lent, we also reflect on Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, where, as he prepared to begin his ministry, he was tempted in the midst of privation, loneliness and hunger.

Culturally, if you’re at all familiar with Lent, it now tends to mean giving up stuff you like because God maybe wants you to. While there’s always room to reflect on what might be worth letting go of or putting aside for a time in order to place more value on something else, this type of Lenten practice rarely engages my heart or soul. It tends to play into the lies and darkness I’m already struggling to weed out—keeps me focused on myself instead of growing in relationship with God or others.

This year, my Lenten journey began with a day of blessing and being blessed. Ash Wednesday, a day largely associated with mourning and sorrow, was to me, Full and Alive. It was a friend who crossed my forehead with ashes, and I was able to do the same for another dear friend. As I moved throughout my day, the faces of those around me reflected back the solid black lines that marked me as well. We marked each other as we had been marked, have been marked, are being marked.

I was so thankful Joshua posted his camera-phone self-portrait on Ash Wednesday, because it captured for me how much that day (which involved confessional art, heart-to-heart conversations and late night bonfires) was about the faces of the people I love and with whom I have been journeying.

Without going into the specifics of my chosen Lenten practice, I can say that it has far more to do with engaging life than pondering death. For me, it’s probably the bigger challenge. This year, my Lenten colors are not shadow.

2010 Pop Culture Conference Rundown

Kj — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:49:55 +0000

4 days, hundreds of professors, PhD/Grad/Undergraduate students and very short food breaks = the Southwest/Texas Popular and American Culture Association’s annual conference.

Ian Klein joined me in Albuquerque for another year of frying our brains with academic discourse on popular culture. We heard about 50 papers and drank a lot of smoothies. It was indescribably delightful.

Here’s the panels I attended and the papers I liked best (per panel- not overall):

Science Fiction & Fantasy 19: Battlestar Galactica and Narrative
Fave paper:
“I Came to Galactica to Tell a Story”: Battlestar Galactica and Transmedia Interactivity
Jennifer Fong, UCLA

Science Fiction & Fantasy: Twilight Fandom
Fave paper:
Undead Authors, Anne Rice, J.K. Rowling, and Stephenie Meyer Battle Roland Barthes on the Internet
Bridget R. Cowlishaw, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah

Science Fiction & Fantasy: Joss Whedon, Sexuality and Gender
Fave paper:
Anya’s “Disturbing Sex Talk”: Breaking the Pattern of Punished Female Sexuality in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Tamy Burnett, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Science Fiction & Fantasy: Sex and Violence in Twilight
(I presented on this panel)
Fave paper:
Rewriting the Byronic Hero: How the Twilight Saga Made “Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know” Acceptable Teenage Fiction
Jessica Groper, Claremont Graduate University

Religion: Conservative Christianity and Culture
Fave paper:
Sacred and Sexular: Ann Veal in Arrested Development
Brandon Barnes, Texas A&M University

Computer Culture: Game Studies 7
Fave paper:
Beyond the Button: The Nintendo Wiimote Interface and its Implications for Embodiment, Performance and Play
David O’Grady, UCLA

Science Fiction & Fantasy: The Dangers of Twilight
Fave paper:
Un-Biting the Apple and Killing the Womb: Genesis, Gender and Gynocide in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga
Colleen Orihill, Cleveland State University

Science Fiction & Fanstasy: Whedon and Genre
Fave paper:
Firefly: Between the Noir Frontier and the Final Frontier
E. Chrlotte Stevens, york University and Ryerson University

American History & Culture: Rethinking Suburban Sense of Self: Identity and Memory in the Suburbs
Face paper:
Everything’s Bigger in Texas: Mega-Religion in Lone Star Suburbia
Charity R. Carney, Stephen F. Austin State University

Computer Culture: Game Studies 11
Fave paper:
America’s First Person Shooters: Violent Interactions with Historical Narratives
Harrison Gish, UCLA

Horror (Literary & Cinmenatic): “Torture Porn”
Fave paper:
It’s all Liv Tyler’s Fault!: Male Shame and Protective Failure in The Strangers
Glen Donnar, RMIT University, Melbourne

Horror (Literary & Cinemantic): Affective and Imaginary Machines of Horror
Fave paper:
Manufacturing Images: Allegories of the Factory in Tomb Raider
Craig Bernardini, Hostos Community College

Punk: Punk Literature Philosophically and Rhetorically
Fave paper:
Punk’s Not Dead, it’s Un-Dead: The Vampire Spike as Punk Rock Expression
Bryan L. Jones, Northeatern State University, Oklahoma

Computer Culture: Ethnography, Writing, Second Life, and Film
Fave paper:
The Sex Life in your Second Life: An Ethnological Study of Women as Sexual Objects in Second Life
Alexis Waters, Northeastern Illinois University

Science Fiction & Fantasy: Whedon and the Body
Fave paper: Ian, of course!
“I Like My Scars”: Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse and the Narrative of Flesh
Ian Klein, Columbia University

Computer Culture: Theorizing Internet Forms
Fave paper:
“Wizards and Witchcraft in the Wired World”: Magical Thinking in Popular Culture
Nicholas Goodman, Northeastern State University

And Tonight Makes Four

Kj — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:32:34 +0000

Seriously, people. Go see it.

New Record: One Film, Three Onscreen Viewings, Three Days in a Row

Kj — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:08:13 +0000