Comments for Brick

Comment on Columnist Sympathizer by Bruce Oakley

Bruce Oakley — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:19:31 +0000

No worries — you’re suited to the role. Student of the business, practitioner of the craft, explorer of media. You can point the way for the inexperienced, sound the trumpet to rally ’round the cause and carry the torch for the tried and true methodology in pursuit of excellence.

From grad school to newspapers small and large to the Internet, you know how it works and what it means for writers — and readers.

Lead on!

Comment on Man and Superboy by Brick › Cultural Indifferences

Brick › Cultural Indifferences — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:03:14 +0000

[...] maintenance, but the management should minimize the nights the “house is dark,” as my late father would call [...]

Comment on Ptop Gun, or Savants Seal by senbassador

senbassador — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:17:00 +0000

Pretty decent article, but I got two disagreements.

1) “From the start, much is made of Jake’s lack of intelligence. He is an empty vessel, and the question is how much new knowledge will he retain, as his life will depend on it.”

Towards the final battle, Jack was explaining battlefield tactics to the Na’vi. He seemed to understand it quite well, which puts him much higher than just a dumb grunt.

2) “But it is a wonder why evangelical Christians aren’t up in arms over the movie’s spiritual component.”

I take it that mainstream evangelicals don’t have a major beef with New Agers. They seem much more threatened by secularism. In a fight between a secular group verses a bunch spiritual New Agers (or even Muslims or Jews), an evangelical would root for the New Agers any day. They’d probably see it as a victory for spiritualism.

“The humans express no religion at all, except perhaps in cursing (which like sex adds realism, don’t you know). The Na’vi are fervent in a made-for-Avatar animism-slash-Buddhism,”

Normally this would be seen as offensive, except for the fact that it was the humans that were the bad guys in this movie, not the Na’vi. The secularist were portrayed as the brutal savages, and the losers of the war. Since evangelicals are always complaining how Hollywood portrays religion, this would be a huge improvement (even if its not their religion).

Comment on Positive Positions Perhaps by Bruce Oakley

Bruce Oakley — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:53:18 +0000

Ehrenreich made the talk show circuit a couple of months back to discuss her book. Unfortunately, like many reasonable ideas in sound-bite land, when stripped of nuance and bulk, if you didn’t listen with full attention, you heard “I wanted to be grumpy and people wouldn’t let me.”

We have similar difficulty addressing many big ideas, such as when people who’ve faced it all their lives talk about racist or sexist undercurrents. Many people then think that means they’re “playing the victim card.”

Of course, she wasn’t saying anything so simple as “no one let me be grumpy,” but rather that fairy-tale notions of life impair us. I expect the book offers many gripping examples of how vibrant life can be when seen without the dimming effect of rose-colored lenses.

Reminder to self: More books, less television (and when television is about books, seek source).

Happy new year.

Comment on Positive Positions Perhaps by Ben

Ben — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:59:27 +0000

A comment from Lana Flowers via Facebook: “I love Stephen King. The man can write, even after he ditched the Bolivian marching powder, booze and Richard Bachman. I am compelled to read Under the Dome. Oooh. Trap a bunch of people under a clear dome so they cannot get in or out, and neither can goods or food. When resources get thin, see what characteristics emerge. Hell yeah.”

Comment on Positive Positions Perhaps by Ben

Ben — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:35:13 +0000

A comment from Dwain Cromwell via Facebook: “I found ‘Duma Key’ compelling.”

Comment on Ptop Gun, or Savants Seal by Brick › Wild Things in the Air

Brick › Wild Things in the Air — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:28:51 +0000

[...] Besides, there’s a need to even out the vitriol that Avatar caused me. It wormed under my skin like a Pandoran parasite. [...]

Comment on Box of Nickels by Jim Binns

Jim Binns — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:48:46 +0000

I liked that! I have a couple collections and they are worth something, but I collect for the pleasure. My son might get his first mortage someday.
Jim

Comment on NAN Better by Ben

Ben — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:41:35 +0000

A comment from Lana Flowers via Facebook: “Ben, thank you for asking people to give this six months. And I tell people who complain about the new paper the same thing: Go Google ‘towns without newspapers’ and then talk to residents in those places who don’t have anyone telling them what the school board, highway department, county government, city council and local businesses are doing. Ask those people who complain if they are willing to spend their time going to a night meeting, running to a 10 p.m. fire or spending their afternoons calling people for comments on a proposed millage increase.”

Comment on A Horse Is a Horse by Bruce Oakley

Bruce Oakley — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:34:33 +0000

The quote marks are meant to be titular, not ironic, if those are the “notes” to which you refer. I don’t do irony much unless by accident, a little too subtle for my taste. A kind word to an old friend is no accident.