I recently came across a few songs that I really like, and thought I should mention it. First, I recently got the album that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss put out together (didn’t see that one coming), and a couple songs there were first rate. Check out Killing the Blues and Gone, Gone, Gone. On …
Corporations Own Cool
“That’s exactly why cool is the advertising El Dorado. Whoever owns cool owns the others. As long as advertisers can convince consumers that certain consumer products contain a coolness that eludes them, advertisers have the upper hand” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 23).
The Horse Laugh of Freedom
Earlier this winter, I have posted the occasional anecdotal guffaw at the expense of global warming. Comes now Science to back up all the stalwart lovers of liberty who dared to laugh the Horse Laugh of Freedom. Turns out, this year has seen a dramatic plunge in temperature, all around the world, according to all …
Behind the Painted Scenery
“Real people are never cool; only their projected identities are. Smooth guys far too often have child support to pay. Fine dressers are often broke, party animals look a whole lot better at midnight than at four, and a lot of world-traveling backpackers are really just hiding from their parents” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the …
And Is Catnip for Consumers
“Cool is the most powerful spiritual environment possible for advertisers” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 18).
Odd Cousins
“American cool and American racism were born together and have grown up together. Cool as we know it was born in the shadowy intersection of black and white America” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 16).
Gritty Realism
“To the extent that women have begun to appear in this shooter world, they do so as caricatures—with cartoonishly erotic bodies. The characteristic pose of Laura Croft from Eidos’s Tomb Raider is a straight-on view of her scowling face, skinny waist, pneumatic breasts, and two huge guns that she’s aiming directly at you. Like other …
A Problem in the Ritual Catechesis
“The beauty of fluid movement through the screens and the technical challenges of doors, elevators, and teleporters can captivate players for hours at a time. But the story arc is invariable: you, the righteous one, are licensed to kill until you die yourself. And you can revive yourself to kill again” (Lawrence and Jewett, The …
Belay My Last
A few weeks ago, I had some fun posting pictures of all the global warming that was making it hard to get up the hill to my house. One response was that one local cooling variation does not a global global warming hysteria undo, and point taken. But it turns out to have been the …
Imagination in the UK
I believe I have mentioned before that someone — Napoleon I think — said that imagination rules the world. Discounting what we need to discount here — Napoleon not being a font of spiritual wisdom, and adjusting for different meanings of the word imagination, this remains quite true, profoundly true. The imagination that I refer …