Tales from the Fish Store

Once upon a time, I worked at a fish store. Specifically, I was once a manager-on-duty and African cichlid expert for a shop that bred and sold pet fish. The shop wasn’t a run-of-the-mill mall-based pet shop. It was a place for aquarium super-nerds. We had about 30 employees on staff, …

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Censorship and Holy Motors

My friend Cole ecstatically tweeted this morning that Holy Motors has just hit Netflix Streaming. About 10 seconds later, he posted far less ecstatically that the Netflix Streaming version of the film has been censored. There are few times when Twitter has brought me from higher highs to lower lows …

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How to Survive a 24-Hour Movie Marathon

Reader James C asks: Hi Melissa, I have a question about BNAT but, not really about Butt Numb A Thon. Our local theatre here in Vancouver, BC is doing a 24 hour marathon soon and I thought maybe you could give me some tips on what you brought to get through the …

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A Silent Movie Primer

Last week, news channels announced that one of Alfred Hitchcock’s long-lost silent films, The White Shadow, had been found. Only about half of the full print exists, but it is nonetheless the earliest Hitchcock work that currently exists, and you can watch it right here on the web. Alfred Hitchock is …

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The Grand Unified Puppy Theory of Relationships

Over the last few years, I’ve been mulling over the nature of human interpersonal relationships. I’ve started to see relationships between people — platonic, romantic, familial, professional, etc. — as an entity separate from the people who formed them. Oddly, I think this has become a very useful working model …

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The Great Geek Cosplay Debate

Every few months, a geek debate flares up on the social networks, about whether it’s proper in geek circles to cosplay (aka wear a costume) from a property that you do not personally know much about. Specifically, this debate often centers around “booth babes,” aka ladies who have been hired to work …

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The Art of the Power (Road) Trip

Many of you reading this already know I’m a die-hard fan of road trips. I love to travel in general, but I especially love driving to get to my destination. Often, the journey is at least as much fun as the destination, and I feel like I’ve earned my time …

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Behold My Butt-Numb-a-Thon 14 Silliness

In December of every year, Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News hosts his birthday party as a 24-hour nonstop film marathon in Austin, TX. This extravaganza is the aptly-named Butt-Numb-a-Thon, and nobody except Harry really knows what will be played. You just show up, and Harry just shows you …

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Space Camp!

As a completely unexpected byproduct of my road trip to Dragon*Con this year, I somehow managed to wind up at Space Camp for a day. WHOA! By “Space Camp”, I mean that I actually wound up at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The facility is a …

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I Am Worth 10 Points: The Death Race 2000 Car

On August 30th, I was in the process of driving from Minneapolis, MN to Atlanta, GA, a trek I now take once per year. At a point just over halfway between the two cities is a town named Effingham, IL, and it was about here that I wanted to take …

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