Monthly Archives: March 2012

On Reading Michael Mann's "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars" As the Year Without a Winter Segues into a Freakishly Warm Spring

So I’m now reading Michael Mann’s book The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, which is an inside look at the so-called “Climategate,” or perhaps more accurately the Right Wing/Big Oil Specious Attack on Climate Scientists. For those not familiar … Continue reading

Posted in books, Climate Change, Politics, The West, Weird Science | Leave a comment

Review of Noah Hawley's "The Good Father" in the Dallas Morning News

So here’s my review of Noah Hawley’s new novel, The Good Father, published Sunday in the Dallas Morning News (click the hyperlink ‘review’). I liked the novel, even if it’s ultimately a downer story, of a father searching for the … Continue reading

Posted in books, Film, Politics, The West, writing | Leave a comment

Further Reflections on Scenes Cut From the Film Version of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," Or Films You Wish You Had Seen, and Some You Wish You Had Not

So being a diehard Cormac McCarthy fan (and more than just a little bit suspicious), I feel the hand of God or Fate or Providence in the fact that one of my students this semester was an actor (Baby Eater … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Bad TV, books, books/film, Film, The West, writing | Leave a comment

Does Sarah Palin Know Where Germany Is? and a Shout-Out for Mark Leyner's new novel, "The Sugar Frosted Nutsack"

So last night I caught HBO’s film Game Change, about Sarah Palin’s (improbable? nightmarish? absurd?) role as John McCain’s veep in the 2008 election, and it’s surprisingly good. Why surprisingly? I’m not a huge fan of biopics/reenactments of contemporary events, … Continue reading

Posted in books, books/film, Good TV, Politics, writing | Leave a comment

Guns & Bunkers: Or How to Enjoy "Doomsday Preppers" and the Truth About That Asteroid Crashing Into a Crater Near You

So the quirkiest angle of the success of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) was that we could all recognize what Discovery Channel shows Cormac had been watching, once you realize that the mysterious cataclysm that has befallen the world is … Continue reading

Posted in Bad TV, books/film, Climate Change, Good TV, The West, Weird Science | Leave a comment

On the Documentary "Gasland": a Real-Life Horror Film

So I see plenty of movies that I don’t say a word about, either because they’re too familiar to bother commenting about (Bridesmaids maybe) or because they’re not worth a comment (The A-Team, anyone?), but for a while I’ve heard … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Film, Politics, The West | Leave a comment

Mitt Romney as The Feckless Male

So one thing fascinating about being a professor is that you notice over a span of years the changes in student behavior and trends. While I’m of the mind that human behavior doesn’t change all that much across the ages, … Continue reading

Posted in books, Education, Politics, writing | Leave a comment

On Mainstream Media's Head-in-Sand Approach to Climate Change, or The Atlantic Fiddling While Rome Burns

So the good people over at the Think Progress blog do an admirable job of fighting the good fight on the absolute idiocy unfolding before our very eyes otherwise known as mainstream media’s response to climate change. They’d rather write … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Politics, The West, Weird Science | Leave a comment

The Effect of Reading Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows" on E-Reading: Just Say No to Distractions

So here’s a little (naive) gem in the NY Times this morning, an article about the lure of online distractions while e-reading titled “Finding Your Book Interrupted … By the Tablet You Read It On,” which contains this quote: “Can you concentrate … Continue reading

Posted in books, Uncategorized, Weird Science, writing | Leave a comment

Did William Gay Really Write His Books? Meddlesome Neighbors Want to Know

So there’s an obituary of Southern Gothic master Wiliam Gay in last week’s daily NY Times (Feb 29th) that I almost missed, which has a few illuminating details and quotes, such as describing his novel Twilight (2006) as “textbook Southern … Continue reading

Posted in Art, books, books/film, writing | Leave a comment