Author Archives: Timothy Burke

Footnote From the Peanut Gallery

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Regarding violence, media and childhood. My daughter’s comment about the first day of art camp, in which it was revealed that the theme for this summer’s creative work would be “peace”: “Peace is boring”.

Posted in Domestic Life | 2 Comments

Sex and Violence

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Timothy Burke

An interesting response to my comments on Schechter’s book at Withywindle’s blog makes me think a bit more about the representation of violence in mass culture. Withywindle suggests that there is a difference between violence for violence’s sake and violence … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 3 Comments

Wild Things

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Timothy Burke

So apparently you don’t have to go to rural Vermont to see some interesting animals. In late May, we heard the absolutely blood-curdling vocalization of an animal of some kind prowling around in our front yard late at night. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic Life | 6 Comments

Savage Pastimes

Posted on July 6, 2007 by Timothy Burke

When I started studying the history of debates over children’s television, I was struck at how the principal critics of kidvid in the 1970s and 1980s set the terms of their declension narrative. For them, Saturday morning television was destroying … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Popular Culture, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 10 Comments

Back South

Posted on July 5, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Back from a long stay in Vermont. This is the first time as a family that we’ve rented a house for a long-term vacation. We’ve been thinking about trying to find a place to go in the summers for three … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic Life, Food | 6 Comments

Slippery and Sticky

Posted on June 19, 2007 by Timothy Burke

It’s summer, so I’m trying to make a dent in a big pile of books sitting by my desk. One of the first I’ve tackled is Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Consumerism, Advertising, Commodities, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 10 Comments

“Citation Plagiarism”

Posted on June 18, 2007 by Timothy Burke

There’s a very interesting entry by Bill Poser at Language Log on the issue of whether there is such a thing as citation plagiarism. (Poser argues no.) Inside Higher Education also links to a very interesting reply by Kerim Friedman … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Intellectual Property | 12 Comments

Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Was Not Super!

Posted on June 12, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I don’t know how it happened, but an article that is reasonably straight on the factual details somehow slipped past the vigilant demand for error at the Weekly Standard. It’s an article by James Kirchick about the transition between Rhodesia … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 6 Comments

Online Tool Kit

Posted on June 11, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Stirring myself now from my traditional post-graduation coma + catching up on deferred life maintenance. One thing that caught my eye today as I did my bloggy rounds was a very nasty blogspat involving Acephalous. As one of the comments … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Information Technology and Information Literacy | Comments Off

Online Review Systems and the Service Economy

Posted on May 30, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I’ve already had a couple of recommendations to look at Angie’s List and Checkbook Magazine since posting earlier today about my homeowner blues. There have been some interesting discussions about Angie’s List in the past six months, particularly at Greg … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism, Advertising, Commodities, Domestic Life, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 11 Comments