“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life” (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue 5-6). It’s not the best line Shakespeare ever wrote, but it’s definitely in the running for the most influential. The tale of two lovers destined for disappointment and tragedy is a story as old as civilization itself. And while the old cliche in Hollywood might be that audiences love a happy ending, often it is the stories that end in heartbreak that stay with us the longest. In this edition of Troping the Riff we take a look at…
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Robots Don’t Wear Belts-Thought-Controlled Robots
It’s a fact that the human brain only uses ten percent of its true potential at any given time. Nah, I’m joking. That “fact” is complete bullshit. An apocryphal notion promulgated by bad science fiction writers looking for some pseudo-scientific reasoning that their characters can develop crazy mind powers out of nowhere. The subject of this Robots Don’t Wear Belts, however, promises to show you a cool new thing humans are learning to do with their brains that are firmly rooted in real science even though it might sound like an idea straight out of fiction: Thought-Controlled Robots. Don’t get…
On The Shelf- Survivor
Sex. Violence. Consumerism. These are the three key components of any Chuck Palahniuk novel and this month’s entry of On The Shelf is no exception. In this iteration, we get a doomsday cult, a marketing messiah, and a woman who knows literally everything. So come with me as I dive deep into the bibliography of the man who brought you Fight Club and Choke and review one of his lesser-known works, Survivor. This is Palahniuk’s second novel, following three years after Fight Club. In it, Tender Branson is the last known survivor of a doomsday cult and after being approached…
Its the Economy Stupid-Corporate Inversion
Stop. Before you read any further I need you to ask yourself which you love more, Burger King or America. Because if your answer is America them by the end of this post you may not want to eat at Burger King ever again. So if you don’t want to be put into that kind of a Sophie’s Choice scenario your only option is to stop reading now. Okay, you’ve been warned. In this edition of Its the Economy Stupid we’re going to take a look at the most unpatriotic of all tax dodges: Corporate Inversion. What’s that you ask?…
World Building 101-Languages
MajQa’ Dub. That’s Klingon for “Welcome Back.” I don’t actually speak Klingon, but Google translate does. Which should tell you two things right off the bat. The first is that in this edition of World Building 101 we will be talking about the importance of developing the fictional languages of your world. The second is that you better take your world’s languages seriously because, if you’re fortunate enough to find yourself with hardcore fans of your work, they sure as hell will. Now I’m not telling you to go full Tolkien, there is no need to invent a full language…
Science! For Parties- Backwards When Wet
I don’t know about you but we here at the Eclectic Eccentric are firm believers in the saying that “a party isn’t a party until it there’s an optical illusion involved”. What’s that? You’ve never heard of that saying. Well, that’s odd because it is totally a thing. Anyway, where was I? Oh, that’s right optical illusions. Well in this edition of Science! For Parties, you’re going to learn how to make an arrow reverse course using nothing more than a glass of water. For this trick, you’ll need a piece of paper, a permanent marker, and a clear glass…
Wily Wordplay – Insults
Everybody loves a good insult. Here are some of my favorites. 1.“Thou art a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver’d, action-taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mungril bitch.” King Lear, William Shakespeare 2.“The simplicity of your character makes you exquisitely incomprehensible to me.” The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde 3.“If you will forgive me for being personal, I do not like your…
In Theory- Trickle-down Economics
If there has been one constant in the American political system over the last hundred odd years it has been the Republican party’s unflinching belief in the trickle-down theory of economics and the Democratic party’s equally unflinching belief that trickle-down economics is complete horseshit. In this edition of In Theory, we will examine this economic theory for ourselves and try to figure out where the truth lies, with the Republicans, the Democrats, or somewhere in the middle. How its supposed to work: The concept behind Trickle-down economics is a simple one. If we reduce taxes on business and the wealthy…
Reference Humor: The Venture Bros Season 4 Episode 12 “Everybody Comes to Hank’s”
You can say this for cartoon network, they certainly know how to get a good laugh out of the properties. This week on Reference Humor, we’re going to take a look at one of the early mainstays of Adult Swim, The Venture Bros. This show is perfect for our purposes as the entire series is just one big send up of the Johnny Quest franchise. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:00 The episode title…
Subtitle Subversive-The Time That Remains
It is not my habit to politicize the Film Follies section of this blog, I leave that to my Discourse of the Day posts, but some films are by their nature political and it would be irresponsible of me to pretend otherwise. This has been a bad year for Israeli-Palestinian relations, as most years are. Given the renewed tensions following Donald Trump’s reckless relocation of the American Embassy to Jerusalem I felt it was time to finally sit down and watch a movie that has been on my list since it came out almost ten years ago. In this edition…