Have you ever heard of “cafeteria religion”? The term refers to the idea of people treating religion like a buffet table where they can pick and choose what parts they want rather than accept someone else’s menu. It is an idea I’ve had trouble with for a while. On one
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Another Step to Take: Lionel’s Christmas Adventure
I’m actually a little bit of a cynic when it comes to Christmas stories. I don’t think songs like Christmas Shoes are adorable, I think they exploit people’s grief and emotions. Yet for some reason – partly knowing my children would be asking to read Christmas stories at some point
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: safety, efficiency, cost of human lives and work
My children watched part of Back to the Future III a few days ago and afterwards expressed surprise at the amount of walking on train tracks that happens in the show. “Isn’t that dangerous?” they asked and I fumbled to explain how the absolute risk wasn’t that high but that
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Ten Lessons Learned From the Petraeus Affair
After watching the recent, exaggerated – and sordid – upheaval over the story about an extramarital affair that the (now former) head of the CIA had with his biographer, I have come to several conclusions about America, sex, American medi…
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Book Review: Shannen and the Dream for a School
I found a great book. It is a chapter book, about two hundred pages long but with big font and small pages. The story tells of a young native girl who dreams about having a real school instead of the small portable classrooms they have to make do with. In
Continue readingArt Threat: Femininity, fantasy, and fever dreams – Book review: The Lava in My Bones by Barry Webster
In a delirious, hallucinogenic voice, author Barry Webster turns directly toward the place and experience of femininity in a queer life dominated by masculine desires.
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Adventures of Baylard Bear and the portrayal of adoption.
I was sent a copy of The Adventures of Baylard Bear by Lucinda Sue Crosby and while the story has its cute moments it has some huge problems. Since I use books to explore life and the questions I have about life, I felt it worthwhile to go ahead and write up
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Tales From a Child of the Enemy
With Remembrance Day (and Veteran’s Day) coming up tomorrow, I find myself drawn back to a book I picked up a couple of years ago. It is a book of poetry called Tales from a Child of the Enemyby Ursula Duba. Ursula Duba was born in Germany at the outbreak of World
Continue readingcartoon life: I wasn’t built for this
Whew. Seems busy today. And it seems like a while since I’ve been drawing, or putting up stuff here. First, the prints are well received, and a few sales are made. The medium books are well received, and a few sales are made. The small books completely ran out, and
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Complexities of Affirmative Action
When I first heard about the court case in the USA Supreme Court of a Texan who claims that she was denied access to the further education of choice because less qualified minority students were accepted on the basis of race, my first instinct was to think poorly of the
Continue readingknitnut.net: Ask Me Anything #7: Are you a reader?
I’m answering Leeann’s question out of sequence, because I need more time to think about Auntiemichal’s question. Leeann asks: “You often post about writing, but I don’t recall ever seeing a post about reading? Are you an avid reader? If so, what types of books do you typically read? What
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: New From Kersplebedeb – Divided World Divided Class: Global Political Economy and the Stratification of Labour Under Capitalism
Divided World Divided Class, just published by Kersplebedeb (the books finally arrived on friday!), charts the history of the ‘labour aristocracy’ in the capitalist world system, from its roots in colonialism to its birth and eventual maturation into a full-fledged middle class in the age of imperialism. It argues that pervasive
Continue readingArt Threat: Finding (Queer) Time – Book review: First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon
Rae Spoon (Photo: JJ Levine) In his remarkable 2009 text, Cruising Utopia, José Esteban Muñoz fixates on the ways in which queer bodies exist outside of and subvert what he calls “straight time.” Straight time, for Muñoz, is what tells queers that “there is no future but the here and
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Dead (or dead)
Although pains were taken to hide the identity of the SEAL Team Six officer who took part in last year’s raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, his true name was revealed today. Regardless of the propriety of this or whether he should have written the account at all, the implication
Continue readingcartoon life: Link and page updates
I updated the pages for the books, and corrected links. An iBooks 2 version of the Cat book is up on iTunes at:http://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/cat/id499745919?mt=11. It’s a free download. An iBooks 2 version of 20 Landscapes IV is up on iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/20-landscapes-iv/id497100073?mt=11. It’s a free download. PDF’s at Dropbox: 20 Landscapes I 20 Landscapes
Continue readingknitnut.net: From Harlequin Romances to Charles Bukowski
I have to watch what I read, for two reasons. The first is that I tend to adopt the writing style of whomever I’m reading. It’s just like “You are what you eat,” only it’s “You write what you read.” My mother first brought this to my attention when I
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Celebrating the Life and Work of Marilyn Buck
Two years ago today, Marilyn Buck died of cancer in New York City; after decades behind bars, she had been released from prison barely a few weeks earlier. As comrade Judy Greenspan wrote at the time: Marilyn died today not in the hospital but at Soffiyah Elijah’s house, her close
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Ask General Kang: Apparently, only one in four people read a book last year — how can we improve that figure?
I’d start by disabling the publishing industry in some way — perhaps an elite cadre of pulp-loving squirrels armed with plasma-shredders and capable of firing book worms out of their mouths? Or perhaps you could change the tax laws so … Continue reading →
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: The “Life of Pi” Movie Will Probably Rock Your World
Canadian novelist Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” is one of the few novels I’ve started with enthusiasm and but couldn’t finish. I simply failed to connect with this award-winning wrenching fantastical story of loss, adventure and hope. But the movie, directed by award-winning director Ang Lee, promises to be something
Continue readingArt Threat: Invocation of the Queer Spirits – Book review: Queer Spirits by AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs
Invocation of the Queer Spirits (Governor’s Island) – AA Bronson There is always a certain magic to be found in the moment of queering. As bodies are opened to unsanctioned desires and sensations, tense moments of wonder unfold before them. Static charges crackle and spark as genders and sexualities are
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