Adam Lambert’s 2012 music video.
Except: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
A lot of commenters have been asking to read my thesis in its entirety – an epic undertaking at the best of times. When I wrote it, I never expected more than my advisers and my parents to read it, so the prospect is pretty awesome. However. It’s over 100 pages long, and a good portion of those pages were written in the last week before my thesis was due on no sleep, and at least some of it has to read like the ravings of a madwoman. I haven’t gone back and read it yet for that reason. I’m going to work on editing it into something acceptable, but until then, I have my thesis presentation, which is sort of a 20-minute version of the 120 pages of the original thesis. The video of me reading my thesis presentation is here (I have a better version lying around somewhere, but I can’t find it right now), and the full text is after the jump – but be warned, it’s nearly 15 pages long.
Eschatology – the study of last things, specifically the apocalyptic beliefs of world religions. (Don’t ask me to pronounce it. I don’t know how. I faked it through my thesis presentation, but no one ever called me on it, so I don’t think anyone else does, either.)
I didn’t really spend much time on religious apocalyptic beliefs in my thesis (the Oxford Handbook of Eschatology is over 1000 pages – I’d never have gotten to the sci-fi part) but I did write up sort of a primer on religious beliefs so I’d be able to see the roots of the modern patterns. They’re all short little entries (only a couple hundred words long, usually) about the eschatological beliefs of most of the major religons (ancient and modern) of the world.
So, for your edification and reading pleasure: A Beginner’s Guide to the End of the World.
At long last, my post about trends in apocalyptic literature in up on io9, complete with a gorgeous chart by their graphic designer, Stephanie Fox. (for comparison, that picture above’s what mine looked like. excel basics only for me.) Check it out!
Also, I’m going to try to get some more posts up about apocalyptic lit today and tomorrow. This little blog’s been woefully neglected recently – I’m trying to get a job, etc. etc. the real world sucks! In the meantime, check out this post and this post.
So, the nearly two-week silence from me recently? This is what I’ve been doing: a haunted house. I was in charge of all the detail painting, which translated into mostly putting blood splatters on everything. (me and my evil baby clown are muggin up above.) It was the most fun I’ve ever had while getting paid. I took some pictures and just put them up on flickr here. There’s also a gallery after the jump (though honestly, flickr has a much better format and the pictures are bigger). Check them out! read more…
Here’s another reference that I made up in the early stages of my research on apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic literature: a full breakdown of every way the world can possibly end, ever. Click the image above for a full version. The quality’s a little crappy.
Last night, I had the supreme pleasure of watching Where The Wild Things Are with a friend who works at a movie theater. (They have to watch the prints beforehand to make sure that there’s nothing wrong with them – hard life. And as a side note, living has become a lot cheaper for me since I’ve been around friends who work at movie theatres and at bars.) It made me so, so happy – the kind of happy where you’re crying sometimes and happy about it.
As with every film that has the indie/literati/intellectual bloodlines that Wild Things does (Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, Karen O, The Arcade Fire), reviewers are falling into two camps: those who don’t mind the hype and those who do, which correspondingly colors their reviews. The best description of the film, though, comes from the filmmakers themselves, who – I’m paraphrasing here – said they set out to make a movie not for children or about children but by a child. read more…
It’s not like you had any other reading to do, right?
It’s a constant work in progress, but this is the most up-to-date version of my list of fiction about the end of the world. This post is going to get updated a lot – I’m going to try to link to the full text when I can, or links to their wiki. On some links, I’ll have info or commentary in the rollover. It’s currently clocking in at 423, mostly novels with some short stories and poems. I’ve read a very, very small fraction of these books, so I can’t attest to how apocalyptic they all are, so feel free to add, subtract, or change as you see fit. UPDATE: Currently, every short story on the list which has the full text online somewhere is linked to, so you can start reading now!
The recent uproar over French Vogue’s highly mediocre and controversial Lara Stone blackface spread has really made me realize how localized the aversion to blackface is. I like to pretend that I’m a thoughtful and openminded individual who doesn’t let American culture brainwash me, but on this one, I just assumed that blackface was one of those things that just Wasn’t Done, devoid of cultural context. I mean, how can anyone look at this poster and say, “Yep, looks okay to me”?
*sigh.* That makes me so happy…
