Living the Liminal

If the Republican Party is searching for a candidate that appeals to their religious conservative base, they need look no further. According to sources who are close to the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed interest in a possible run for Republican nomination in the 2008 election. When asked about the Constitutional requirement of being [...]

I have chosen to boycott Starbucks. Why you ask? Not for any social or political reasons, but for aesthetic reasons.
Let me explain:
Several weeks ago, I was in the Starbucks at the corner of 56th & 7th and I was waiting for my medium mocha with an extra shot of espresso and no whipped cream (which [...]

I have been reading The Marx-Engels Reader and have just finished the first section which presents a number of Marx’s early writings. I am amazed at how relevant and important his work remains. Beyond the purely academic use of Marx in Academic circles– a use that is often filtered through Louis Althusser and other post-Marx [...]

When I was a boy, I was scared of heights. I would get this swirling, heavy feeling in my stomach when up high, and I knew, just knew, that I was going to fall.
So I would force myself to climb trees. As high as I could, ignoring the fast beating of my heart, the dryness [...]

(click here for the first part of this essay)
The Five Obstructions, perhaps one of von Trier’s most optimistic movies, answers that question with the idea that making art–and in this case, films–might hold the key to surviving this world with one’s honor intact. The setup of the movie is that von Trier challenges the filmmaker [...]

The first Lars von Trier film I saw was Zentropa, which I saw sometime in the early 90s. This was back in his “stylized” phase and the film was beautiful: black and white, but with various bits of color added in during some of the scenes. Starting with the amazing voice of Max Von Sydow [...]

I saw a man this past Saturday as I was heading into the city to see a production of Pig Farm and he was dying. Not right then, but death had imprinted itself so heavily on him that it was coming soon. I think he had AIDS - his frame was gaunt, arms covered in [...]

Materials:
To play “Geneva Conventions: The Drinking Game” you need copies of the conventions as ratified by nearly every country in the world (including the US), your favorite alcoholic beverages (because you are sure-as-shit going to need some drinking), and a group of your friends. Preferably bi-partisan.
The Peace Pledge Union provides a good and quick overview [...]

I can’t believe that it has been over a year since Doctor Who has returned to television and I haven’t said one word about it on my blog. It has been like an old friend returning after a long absence. I can remember as a child sitting in front of my grandparents old Magnavox Stereo [...]

So this post is definitely a work-in-progress. I hope to develop these ideas more fully in the future, as well as post a few suggested platform points. You are more than welcome to post pro, con or simply thought provoking comments. Indeed, I look forward to some discussion of these ideas.
1. It more appropriately counters [...]