Category Culture
The Upside of Western Decline
I view the US and its western allies as very positive forces in international politics. US nation building policies during the 40s and 50s constructed much of the modern first world. The US civil rights movement, the anti-colonization movement running parallel to it in Britain, France, and other Western nations, democracy promotion efforts and trade […]
Condensed Friendship
One of my professors at Paichai University is an enormous tech-guy and he was very excited the other day because, it seems, Korea is on the verge of replacing its paper books with e-book enabled iPads (or their Samsung/LG made equivalents). My first reaction was, typical of my largely tech-indifferent self, to shrug and go […]
Dez Bryant and The Sins of The Father
You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me. – Deuteronomy Chapter Five, Verse Nine Most of you probably don’t know much about […]
The Best Way to Make An Impression on Readers
The Best Way To Make An Impression? by Todd Borg It’s likely – but not certain – that the answer is to write a really good book. In fact, everything I say after this sentence is predicated on the assumption that you have written a really good book and that your book also has a really good professional cover and really good editing. […]
Vengeance and the Matter of Anders Breivik
Anders Breivik murdered 77 people in Norway. Some he blew up with bombs – tearing off limbs, bursting eardrums and rending brain matter as the immense pressure wave accelerated and decelerated in the various densities of the human skull. Most he simply shot. Breivik walked the paths of that small Scandinavian island, during a summer camp, seeking out […]
Gravitational Pull
. A review of the film Gravity and examination of scary fiction. Gravity combines scary and beautiful in ways I’ve never seen. That the director is able to keep his characters dangling in the abyss the entire length of the film without straining the audience’s suspension of disbelief is, certainly, a sign that Alfonso Cuaron is very […]
The Tale of Bob
Tale of Bob, The Blue Collar American Worker Ben Garrido Bob was driving his one ton duly pickup truck out of his highly mortgaged driveway to work when he received a call from his employer, Global Bicycles. “We’re sorry, Mr. Bob. We regret to inform you that your position is no longer available.” “How did […]
Making the Reader Hallucinate
Good, evocative writing is very much a drug. You, the benevolent (or not) narcotics dealer, deceive your readers’ senses to the point where they taste, smell, hear and feel through, of all things, their eyes. This doesn’t seem so fraudulent at first, but really think about how you are creating those sensations. At its most […]
Ghost Hunting
This article originally appeared, in an altered form, in the Reno News and Review. This is a story about ghosts. According to the Most Holy Book of Cultural Cliché, I’m supposed to either tell you about how the ghost hunters are a bunch of superstitious charlatans or passionately defend the paranormal possibilities of the universe. […]
An Open Letter to Sinead O’Connor
Dear Sinead, First of all, I would like you to know I think the attacks Miley Cyrus launched at you were unfair. I don’t know if I’d be as open as you are about potentially embarrassing psychological problems but, honestly, it’s probably a good thing you aren’t ashamed – I’m sure you are an inspiration […]
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