I don’t really have much commentary on Chapter 4. I saw it as a case study in science studies and caring for animals situated within breeding pedigree dogs. Maybe I’m missing something. As for Chapter 3, I struggled with this chapter more than with other chapters. So first I’m gonna spin out what I got from the chapter (without the nuances, which would add years to this process). Chapter 3 The chapter is about how we deal ethically with other non-human species, specifically lab animals. “Instrumental action with animals is not the enemy” – sometimes we have to have lab animals. This puts her onRead More →

Yesterday I found the greatest link to DavidHarvey.org. David Harvey is a professor of Geography at CUNY. He’s a Marxist, and a prolific writer (ten books), including one I read called The Condition of Postmodernity, and he’s wicked smart. Every year for the past…who knows how many years, he teaches a course that is a close reading of VOl. I of Capital. Last year, someone recorded his lectures on videos, and now you can see them on his website. I spent two hours today listening to the introduction to the class, which covered a close reading of the first six pages of the book. IRead More →

My latest fantasy: I want to work at Digipen, the computer gaming school in Seattle. A friend and former student went to school there. The website posted four positions in general education. I drafted my cover letter and sent an email asking questions, only to find that they already filled the positions. But they are hiring next year as well. How exciting would that be? I got all wrapped up in the fantasy about working there, imagining how I would teach my classes. Other random musings: In other news, we are going to ZoSo tonight at the Varsity. ZoSo is a wildly popular Led ZeppelinRead More →

New media critics say that new media technologies turn consumers into producers. Nowhere is this more true than in amateur porn production. An article in Wired gives this as an explanation for why the porn industry is feeling an economic crunch. The porn industry is posting losses from the endless free supply of amateur porn. Of course, despite the losses, the porn industry is still thriving, but it makes me think of the relationship between amateur and professional porn. The whole idea of amateur porn raises a host of uncomfortable issues about women’s autonomy and subjectivity. All the feminist arguments about exploitation, victimization, hate speech,Read More →

My relationship with money is very strange. I’m constantly comparing myself to other people to see how I’m doing financially, and I’m never satisfied with my status. I live in a shoebox of a little house, I drive a low end car, most of my “stuff” is low end (computer, phones,mp3 player, coffee, groceries, etc.). I’m never happy. I always marvel at how other people can afford SUVs, and private school tuition. According to all the stats I’ve read, we are at the upper end of income in Baton Rouge. I know I don’t live in an exceptionally rich part of town, but I lookRead More →

Danica is at it again. In the most recent controversy, she went off on another female driver, Milka Duno, for blocking her on the track. Now, it’s a cat fight. I’ve posted about Danica and sexism before. She’s fascinating because she’s a female figure in a male-dominated sphere. What’s most interesting to me about this story is the 344 comments. Most of them are amazingly sexist. Some of them go as far as to compare Milka Duno (who is sexier because she fits male standards of beauty better) to Danica (who is too tomboyish, i.e., flat-chested, etc.). The first comment captures the sentiments of mostRead More →

Thursday night we went to see the Dark Knight at the midnight movie. I have to say that the Rolling Stone review hit the mark. They call the Joker “pure chaos,” which he is in so many ways. Reviewer Peter Travers also approves of the way the movie refuses to explain the joker through “pop psychology.” No oedipal narrative here. He writes: The deft script, by Nolan and his brother Jonathan, taking note of Bob Kane’s original Batman and Frank Miller’s bleak rethink, refuses to explain the Joker with pop psychology. Forget Freudian hints about a dad who carved a smile into his son’s faceRead More →

Whoopi and Elisabeth Hasselbeck got into it recently on The View over use of the N-word. You can see the video of the exchange on Us Magazine. Elisabeth, of course, cries, wearing her white guilt on her sleeve. She refuses to understand why it’s alright for black people to use ‘the n-word.’ Of course, she cites the movie Crash as her politically correct credentials. Whoopi makes two important points in response. First, she explains that when black people use ‘the N-word,’ they have taken it from the hands of white people who use it against them. She says, “This is a word that has meaningRead More →