Cinematic Oddities: Pain & Gain and a Defense of Michael Bay

Back in December 2012, I saw the first promotional trailer for Pain & Gain, Michael Bay’s latest cinematic outing. I’m usually lukewarm on Michael Bay at best, but when I saw the trailer, something in my lizard brain said, “Yes. Yes, I want to see that. I want to see …

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Protip for Calling Out -ists

In the wake of the Zimmerman trial verdict, I’ve seen a lot people throw the term “racist” around in social media. In the weeks before, the social upheaval of choice surrounded “fake geek girls” (again), and the term “sexist” got tossed around a lot. Many other terms of prejudice get bandied …

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Decorating with the Olympics

At the Day Job, I work at a standing desk, in a cube that only has walls that go up to my chest. As I face my computer screen, I face the opposite side of a hallway, which goes past my cube. In all these months at this desk, this …

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The Return of Quick, Tell Me

I’ve been remiss in my blogging duties thanks to pneumonia and CONvergence. (One was far more pleasant than the other, I assure you.) But now that life has returned to relative normality, the Thursday tradition shall resume! Quick, tell me about the most ridiculous thing you would buy if you …

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Thank You, CONvergence

Last weekend was bonkers. It’s bonkers every year for me, because CONvergence always happens on/near the 4th of July weekend each year. As I’ve described previously in this blog, CONvergence is a sci-fi/fantasy smorgasbord convention that erupts yearly in Minneapolis, MN. This year was the convention’s 15th iteration, and it was …

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CONvergence Is Imminent!

One of the things consuming my life lately is CONvergence 2013, which will invade on July 4th and then continue through the weekend. CONvergence is the 800-pound gorilla of Minnesota conventions, where an expected 7,000 people will show up and proceed to nerd out, dress up, and boogie down until …

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My Own Personal Hellmouth

If you’ve been watching the news, you may be aware that the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota has been walloped with storms over the last week. Xcel Energy reported a record-breaking 505,000 power outages over the weekend, and an astonishing amount of people are still without power. I’ve seen …

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Offline and Online

I have been remiss on my blogging duties for the last couple weeks. While I’m pretty sure humanity can live without my daily online presence for a while, I keep feeling like I’ve been slacking on the job. Last year, I made an effort to post each weekday (which I …

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Introducing: A Reel Education!

Today is the day! Over the last several months, I’ve been working with Fearless Comedy‘s Tim Wick and Jena Young on a new podcasting series: A Reel Education. See, Tim Wick and I are movie nerds. We are the sort of movie nerds who will joyfully drill into the history …

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Tales from the Workplace, Episode 3

Since I’m on a roll with telling stories about places I’ve worked, I have a doozy for you today. Once upon a time, I worked at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I worked there in various capacities for a whopping eleven years, taking jobs that involved helping children throw sandbags, managing …

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