On Monday evening, a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson on charges for the shooting death of Michael Brown, a black teenager who lived and died in Ferguson, MO. This was the result of a three-month process, in which the grand jury heard from witnesses of the shooting, the medical examiner who … Continue reading What Ferguson Means to Me
Category: Politics
Righteous Indignation, Wrong Action
We've been in a culture war for as long as I can remember. There were the 80s, when the Republicans were pretty much running the show, then the 90s where Clinton lead the charge against them from the Executive Office. The 2000s were particularly nasty and disheartening; I couldn't believe it when George W. Bush … Continue reading Righteous Indignation, Wrong Action
How Our Writing Gets Better
There's a bit of an ongoing kerfluffle in the furry writing community about critics of stories and the role they should play. From my admittedly limited experience with the subject, it seems like the argument has been broken down into two camps. Some folks feel that furry literature should be subjected to the same standards … Continue reading How Our Writing Gets Better
The AFI Top 100 Films: High Noon (#33)
High Noon (1952) Starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly and Lloyd Bridges Written by Carl Foreman (screenplay) and John W. Cunningham (short story) Directed by Fred Zinnemann This is another one of those movies where the behind-the-scenes story is just as good as what you see on the screen. But High Noon is included in this … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: High Noon (#33)
An Outrageous Deconstruction of Shocking Comedy
In my opinion the best comedy is almost always surprising. A really great joke takes a well-worn premise and drives it off a cliff when we're least expecting it, or connects two places we never knew were even close to each other. I'm not a psychologist or anything, but I think we like to have … Continue reading An Outrageous Deconstruction of Shocking Comedy
The AFI Top 100 Films: Doctor Zhivago (#39)
Doctor Zhivago (1965) Starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin and Rod Steiger Written by Boris Pasternak (novel) and Robert Bolt (screenplay) Directed by David Lean After watching Doctor Zhivago, I found it easy to imagine why people were freaked out about communism. The movie, adapted from the Russian novel by Boris Pasternak, details the … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Doctor Zhivago (#39)
My Wildly Inaccurate Oscar Predictions 2013
As almost every cinephile knows, the Academy Awards will be held this Sunday, capping off a few months of hype and speculation about which movie will be crowned the best movie Hollywood made all year. Whichever film takes the honor will have quite esteemed company, joining the ranks of Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, The … Continue reading My Wildly Inaccurate Oscar Predictions 2013
The Joys of Getting Older
I meant to have another bit of flash fiction up today, but my body hasn't been cooperating the way I'd like. So instead I'm in the cafe of the local medical megaplex, awaiting my early-morning doctor's appointment so we can figure out what's going on and (hopefully) fix things rather quickly. The details are a … Continue reading The Joys of Getting Older
My Story, My Government
I didn't fully understand the power of marriage until I married Ryan. I was there, in a rented tuxedo with him, declaring a lifelong commitment to this one amazing man in front of the people I have come to consider my family over the last several years. After spending most of my life thinking of … Continue reading My Story, My Government
My Love Affair with Parks and Recreation
I gave Parks and Recreation a miss when it premiered on April 9th, 2009, because I made the mistake of thinking that it was just trying to capture lightning in a bottle twice. The mockumentary-style comedy was becoming a thing after the success of The Office, and it just felt like NBC wanted something that … Continue reading My Love Affair with Parks and Recreation
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 