CROSS BONE STYLE: Review of Akira Hiramoto, Me and the Devil Blues (poss. volume 1): In this manga Robert Johnson sells his soul to the Devil at the crossroads. The first half of this book explores the terrible consequences for himself and those around him. The second half hooks him up somehow with Clyde of Bonnie-and, and takes Clyde’s POV for the most part as we simmer in miserable anticipation of what will happen to Johnson. The first thing to... Read more

THANK YOU. Oh my gosh, you guys, you are amazing. It looks like I’ll be able to cover all the families on my Christmas-basket list solely because of the generosity of my readers. I will be praying for all of you and I am just so amazed and grateful to see how much you care for these terrific moms and kids you haven’t even met!!! Thank you so much… and if you were thinking about emailing me about this, but... Read more

WILL THE FETUS BE ABORTED? BY AND BY LORD, BY AND BY: I just got the second installment of Alphonse: “Murder Sleep.” Alphonse is a horror comic about a fetus who survives abortion; he knows, and thinks, and hates. My review of the first issue is here. The cover of this second installment tells the story. A broken doll sits in horrifying suspense in front of the inevitable revenge: a carving-knife. All my Pet Sematary terror-feelers started tinglin’. Alphonse continues... Read more

HE THOUGHT HE WAS THE DUKE OF AMERICA: I hope you all know how much I love the Shakespeare Theater. I’ve reviewed its productions here and here for money, and here for free. I love it! I have a season pass! Their current As You Like It is wrong from jump. The essential problem is the premise: The Forest of Arden = America. This is a one-liner, not a basis for an extended interpretation. There are no real parallels or... Read more

“Only in individualist societies is it so important to control what individuals are and how they behave and think. There it is understood that the society’s success or failure, its integration or breakdown, is ultimately determined by the competence and conformity of the individual. As a result much of the effort of modern society goes into constructing appropriate individuals…”–John W. Meyer, quoted by Bruce Henricksen in “The Construction of the Narrator in The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’“ Yes, this is... Read more

MOEBIUS BAGEL. Or really just a twist-ending bagel; but if you wish to explore the possibilities of the Moebius bagel you should click the link. Via Postmodern Conservative of course. Read more

ANTIDISSOLUTIONARIANISM: A really fascinating Wired article about a man who attempted to disappear–and/or pull a Brighton Rock–and what happened next. Via Rattus, who must never disappear. Read more

And the fearful thrashing he had given the inanimate Ziemianitch seemed to him a sign of intimate union, a pathetically severe necessity of brotherly love.–Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes Read more

CHRISTMAS BASKETS. Hey… I know most of you all are doing Christmas baskets through your church or some other group. But if you’re not, I have three families who could really use your help. They’re fairly small–one to three kids–but they don’t have any way to get Christmas presents right now. If you can help, please email me!!! I will let you know the kids’ names, sexes, and ages, and I will also pick up the baskets, so literally all... Read more

Who sails the ships out of Blogwatch,Laden with Bibles and rum? Megan McArdle: You should be reading Megan anyway, because she gets both the problems with the current US health-care system and the problems with the proposed fixes; but I found this post especially interesting for its discussion of what the euro can and can’t do. Sean Collins: Digression: In writing about film for this blog I’ve noticed that I don’t talk about form the way I do with comics.... Read more