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…
books
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
New Blog Look and Book Review
Hi There! I’m working on making my blog better and easier to read. I hope that anyone who likes a particular post will share it! Also, I got an exciting…
Whence the book?
Okay, this is going to be just a little self-serving. In that it’s not only a question that I think about at work, but it’s also something I think about…