& a blog

mckenzie wark was at brown this morning, talking about his recent gamer theory project. for those who haven’t read it, gamer theory is a rather indirect assessment of what we might call the gamic experience. i mean this in the sense that whatever pauline kael was to cinema, mckenzie wark might be to game studies. [...]

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we’ve all been to the opera, right? we know what it means. we’ve been witness to it’s permutations and parodies. we know what it sounds like, feels like, looks like. we know what it means to issues of class, western civilization, and elitism. we’ve all been to the opera, but we’ve never actually sat down [...]

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here is a story about stories; with a question about whether stories are still stories and whether we are beginning to live in a post-story age. the already cool mit media lab has founded a “center for future storytelling.” the purpose of this “labette” as the initiative is described, is to engage in studying and [...]

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the american action movie is founded on the idea of catharsis through violence. which is why critics and intellectuals generally object to it. because it espouses a sort of primitivism in the name of healing, and engages in profound acts of brutality in the pursuit of some sort of harmony. the american action movie confronts [...]

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In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole? a tradition begun with thomas paine (aka t-paine) and continued through the glory of the onion 2.0 wherein they begin creating youtube-like clips. well done, american satire, you always find a way through social, cultural, legal, and even technological changes to stay [...]

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Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are but i do think i know these people. WELL.

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some of the best soulsearching in the world can be done on the ripta 60 bus. take the outbound from providence on a weekday night. take the 10:40; it will be half-empty. there will be a place to sit in the back, a seat on the right, where you’ll be able to see the water. [...]

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