Holy Bleep, It’s a Blogiversary!
The new BjornMunson.com debuted March 1st last year. Also, the first anniversary is paper. What good is paper to a web log? I feel XKCD would have a good answer to this.
Various and Sundry
Various and Sundry
Recommended Reading: The Battle for Cheerleaders’ Souls -er- Sequins
I’m always interested in learning about a particular business industry’s ecosystem. How do some businesses become the major player? How do they fall? How do new companies displace them? So with that in mind, take a look at Leigh Buchanan’s piece in Inc. on Rebel Athletic and the surprisingly pitched battle in the cheerleader apparel industry. Put another way: Come for the glitter, stay for the reflections on what makes a “Challenger Brand.”
Various and Sundry
Beware Twisty Windy Things! (A History Lesson on Tornado Coverage)
One of the reasons I love history is how often it proves the maxim “truth is stranger than fiction.” So here’s this week’s recommended reading from Cara Giaimo about how weathermen couldn’t talk about tornados. Mind blown (or perhaps whisked away to Oz).
Various and Sundry
Recommended Reading: Building a franchise for forever
I didn’t get to read this sprawling, thoughtful article by Adam Rogers that appeared in Wired until now. So, it’s possible that you’ve already read it. However, for those of you interested in the film industry, how this storytelling trend is impacting the industry (“…the auteur gives way to the team player”), or just Star Wars, give yourself an uninterrupted chunk of time to dive in. Even as we speak, multiple futures (and pasts) are being written
Various and Sundry
Star Trek Fans: A New Hope?
This is the fourth entry in a surprisingly long series of posts about Star Trek’s future and its fandom called Crisis of Infinite Star Treks. “A new hope?!?,” you Trek partisans cry. Yes, I went there. But stay with me, because although the tomfoolery (Garth-foolery?) of the Axanar lawsuit continues, CBS went ahead and announced the showrunner for their new Star Trek TV series: Bryan Fuller. Yes, someone who has both written for Star Trek and led…
Various and Sundry
Ray Harryhausen: Cinematic Force of Stop-Action Nature
Moving from last week’s discussion of television to a discussion of film, this week’s recommended reading goes more to the previous week’s thoughts on fannish nostalgia. Ray Harryhausen appears to be one of those objects permanently stuck in the amber of my nostalgia. I go back and watch the films with some regularity. Lord knows many aren’t good… and yet Ray’s stop-action creatures remain extraordinary. They are alive and vital and imperfect in a way that awakens…
Various and Sundry
Recommended Reading: The Future of Travel
Interesting piece by Nathan Heller in The New Yorker about the past, present, and future of air travel. Hmm. Does my passport need to be renewed?
Various and Sundry
TV’s Golden Age… or too much of a Good Thing?
Last week, I made passing reference to Television’s “Golden Age,” an often-invoked, but still rather unofficial designation for the TV-viewing time we find ourselves in. Yes, I know some people still want to cling to the 50s being a golden age, but while my adoration for some skits of Your Show of Shows and episodes of I Love Lucy is second to none, please. TV is currently rocking. One of the side effects of this embarrassment…
Raves Various and Sundry
Recommended Reading: Star Trek DS9 is still a worthy watch
Amidst all this talk about the current “Crisis of Infinite Star Treks,” I came across this remembrance/article from Max Temkin about my favorite Star Trek incarnation: Deep Space Nine (DS9). I have now watched the entire series three times: first, when it was broadcast. Second, in the early naughts on DVD, and most recently with its debut on streaming Netflix. Some episodes, like “Necessary Evil,” have been ones I’ve watched more than three times. Is…
Various and Sundry
Oh, Star Trek Fans: We’re So Doomed
It’s one thing to have too many choices, something we arguably have in today’s world. It’s another thing to have choices violently cut down. Imagine if Baskin Robbins decided their Thirty-One-Derful world needed to be Thirteen. Or Three. In my previous post on this subject, I noted that I was okay with the different –in some cases radically different– flavors of Star Trek. My issue was that a whole set of flavors, ones that I…