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Sarcasmancy: March 2015
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Tuesday, March 24, 2015. So if you like detective novels, but supernatural stuff and games a la Wolf Among Us ain't your bag, I have another humble (but emphatic! Suggestion: Bosch. Amazon's first original series that really demands some attention. Check out this sweet intro song:. Tell me that wasn't written for a crime show set in Los Angeles. In addition to clever plots, Connelly is known for his dialog. Everybody on the force speaks with the language you would expect from an LA cop. Full disc...The s...
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Sarcasmancy: Ant-Man Squished by MCU House Style
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Wednesday, August 19, 2015. Ant-Man Squished by MCU House Style. Last Sunday I saw Ant-Man. It was dumb but pretty fun. That's all most people need to know really, but I have reputation to uphold. If you're reading this, you want gonzo over-analysis of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. You don't really watch these things for the plot or performances though. Or I don't know. Maybe you're a masochist? My interest in the movies is starting to shift from intrinsic interest to this kind of morbid curiosity. I'...
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Sarcasmancy: January 2015
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Wednesday, January 14, 2015. Where I've Found Myself in Writing. Encountering a piece of good fiction, or good design, or good art of any kind, is like finding a part of yourself that's missing. You may have known it wasn't there and was supposed to be; it might complete a mechanism that was incomprehensible and incomplete, or fix one that was damaged. Or it could just be a power up for your brain. 1 The Magicians by Lev Grossman. 2 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling. 2014 FB Highlig...
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Sarcasmancy: October 2014
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Friday, October 17, 2014. On Hatred: Lines Crossed in Videogame Violence. Why draw the line here, when Grand Theft Auto also lets you shoot innocents and police? When Mortal Kombat has obscene graphic violence? When Hotline Miami forces you to kill room after room of enemies with brutal methods? Ultimately, I think one of the more meaningful distinctions on the value of controversial violence can be distilled down to a quote I really enjoy:. What is the point? Why should we care? So what should we do?
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Sarcasmancy: What it Means to be a Magician
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Tuesday, August 11, 2015. What it Means to be a Magician. I finished Magician's Land a year ago now, and I can tell you that Lev Grossman's three books on twenty-something spellcasters are my favorite trilogy. Books, movies, whatever. These are the stories that are closest to what I want to write myself. I'm still not sure I've nailed this, but I think I could write about it in circles for years, so it's going up now. Because this will spoil EVERYTHING. Courtesy of Better Book Titles. The Magician King I...
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Sarcasmancy: Witching Hours
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Monday, June 1, 2015. You yourself play Geralt of Rivia, the titular Witcher, which is a mutant magi-swordsman bred for hunting monsters. He has white hair. He has cat eyes. He is an amnesiac. Despite those fan-fic grade cliches, the story itself is unexpected, filled with genuine moral dilemmas, twisting alliances, political intrigue, and ugly consequences. The inventory can also be a chore to navigate, but that's due in part, to the massive amount of shit you accumulate. I was doing so well, too.).
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Sarcasmancy: June 2015
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Tuesday, June 30, 2015. College, in turn, made me associate libraries with doing research or serious work. So I stopped checking out libraries. But is that really a problem? If I buy so many damn books, why would I go to a library ever again? Well, precisely because I have so little time to read any more. Stick with me. The library also has a fairly extensive collections of movies, including some new releases you can rent for a dollar. Seeing how Blockbusters are a thing of the past and Redboxes are ...
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Sarcasmancy: July 2015
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Thursday, July 30, 2015. Half Life 2 and Black Mesa: Subtlety Between Shootouts. This was originally supposed to be about Black Mesa but it turned into a bit of a ramble touching on emergent versus linear storytelling. A friend once asked me what my favorite video game stories were. I went to grad school for that, and it's my job description, so I wanted to impress. The first couple titles that sprang to mind weren't terribly unusual. I think I said Final Fantasy 6. The Last of Us. If you rush to the nex...
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Sarcasmancy: February 2015
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Friday, February 27, 2015. Manic Pixies, Questionable Content, and Going Hungry on Slices of Life. Oh Hannelore. Harbinger of the QC's decline. Well. That's not fair. It's actually patently inaccurate. Jeph's faithful love her. They eat her up. They can't get enough of dear Hanners, which is why most of the cast is now are neurotic, quirky injenues. So I am in the minority. A breath of fresh air from romantic pursuits! On a conceptual level, I do not have a problem with MPDGs; from Holly Golightly to Ram...
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