Category Archives: Popular Culture

Less-Convergent Culture

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I’m broadly sympathetic to celebrating the power and range of audience productions of culture and to Henry Jenkins‘ arguments about convergence culture and about reading the total range of textual production around a cultural property. Sometimes Jenkins gets carried away: … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 7 Comments

Effect Size (Again)

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Deirdre McCloskey’s great little pamphlet The Secret Sins of Economics, which you can read in expanded form in her books The Cult of Statistical Significance and If You’re So Smart, argues that one of the two “secret sins” mentioned in … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Popular Culture | 4 Comments

District 9

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Watching District 9, I could feel my mind splitting into different tracks of internal dialogue and reaction. The first track was simply taking pleasure in the film’s deft mixture of intelligence and high-octane action in a science-fiction idiom. Even potentially … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Popular Culture | 13 Comments

A Tale of Two Game Movies

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I’m pretty surprised that Sam Raimi has agreed to make a film based on World of Warcraft. I still enjoy World of Warcraft as well as find it intellectually interesting but the idea that its mashed-up, derivative, internally contradictory, heavily … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Popular Culture | 7 Comments

Gaming Roundup

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Timothy Burke

So I’m catching up after a week of household projects and hiking with family. First, some miscellaneous thoughts about digital games and virtual worlds after State of Play. 1. The theme for State of Play was “Plateau” and unlike most … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Popular Culture | Comments Off

It’s a Trap

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Timothy Burke

So. This Star Trek film? It’s pretty goddamn excellent. It’s sort of like the second time that a good play gets performed and the new casting is better than the old casting, the new staging is better than the old … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 27 Comments

She Did It Her Way

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Timothy Burke

By now, you’ve probably seen Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent. At least a few scholars and critics, bless their skeptical hearts, have argued against accepting the seeming spontaneity of the clip at face value. I’ve argued in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 1 Comment

Set Course For Reboot, Mr. Sulu

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Enough politics! Time for geekery! Yes, the new trailer for Star Trek makes me want to see it. Just the music does! Plus, come on, there’s a call-out to Vasquez Rocks about 3/4 of the way through. I’m with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 9 Comments

Cramer and Stewart

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I’m very much enthused by the proposition that Jon Stewart and his merry band of TIVO-ing staffers should step up their attacks and go after much of the rest of the media. The basic drive behind the Daily Show‘s criticism … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy, Politics, Popular Culture | 21 Comments

The Protection of the Uninitiated

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I don’t have much to add to various reactions to the Watchmen film. To put it simply, I enjoyed it far more than I expected to, especially after I found 300 impossible to enjoy as simple dumb fun because it’s … Continue reading →