Everybody’s got that end of the world fever. The paranoia pandemic. The sky is falling, except this time it is not a drill so everybody take cover. Catastrophe, baby! Apocalypse mania. Forget reading about dystopias, we’re living in one. In light of this, why bother with creation? Who are all of these weirdos writing things …
Every so often, certain corners of the commentariat are subject to a paroxysm of debate whereby a man of the left mocks “conservatives” for being unable to make great art, stating boldly that they are incapable of such, will never make the next great art, and that art is fundamentally anti-conservative. This provokes the predictable …
A wave of early evening tiredness overcame me, and I began to dream. . . * * * Squid Game. The Hunger Games. The Most Dangerous Game. The Lottery. 1984. Animal Farm. Brave New World. Blah blah blah. One thousand dystopias. I get it. There are also endless interpretations of how we got here and …
Q: When is a piece of entertainment an act of war? A: When it comes from California. * * * Back in the 1980s I, a young boy living in rural New Hampshire, wanted nothing more than to grow up to be a skateboarding, black-belt rock star who could surf and lift weights at Venice …
“Hey you! Yeah, you reading this. I hate you. Everything about you. I hope you die. I hope your family dies. I hope that you and your family get sick, tortured, dismembered, and then die, after a long, slow, and excruciatingly painful process. I hope it gets televised. I will get the popcorn ready and …
Part I October 18, 2021 Update: I have been made aware by commenter Hardwicke Benthow that the quotations shared in the original version of this post are apocryphal at best, and outright fabrications at worst. Hardwick is a very credible individual, and independent research of my own (which I, alas, should have conducted before publishing) …
Anti-Humanism, Part II: All Fiction is Message Fiction Read More »
Hey! Do you remember “Africa” by Toto? Do you remember “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds? How about when Ronnie Spector sang on “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money? Did you like that? Then you’re going to love “Last Train Home” by John Mayer. It’s got the keyboard sound and the shuffle …
A storm rages outside . . . I sit and let the wind bite at my exposed skin. I am no animist nor Druid, but I feel the push and pull of the wind and the rain deep inside. I wonder to myself, Why does this storm rage? Why does water fall from pregnant clouds …
The phalanx was a rectangular military formation most well-known for being the preferred fighting tactic of Ancient Greek hoplites. The phalanx presented a wall of shields in the front ranks, with the first few ranks thrusting their spears out to project a porcupine-like exterior. Each hoplite had his shield locked with the man to his …
Afghanistan is literally The Handmaid’s Tale. And The Handmaid’s Tale is an example of the power of art. Margaret Atwood was horrified by the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and the installation of an Islamic government run by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Women suddenly had far fewer rights than they enjoyed under the …
Alexander Hellene is either a dilettante or a Renaissance man, depending on whom you ask. A musician, athlete, artist, and law school graduate, Alexander has always been attracted to fantastical tales, since they tend to do a better job of explaining how the world works than just about anything else. He lives in New England with his wife and children.