This site is updated Thursday at noon with a new article about an artistic pursuit generally considered to be beneath consideration. James Schellenberg probes science-fiction, Carol Borden draws out the best in comics, Chris Szego dallies with romance and Ian Driscoll stares deeply into the screen. Click here for the writers' bios and their individual takes on the gutter.

While the writers have considerable enthusiasm for their subjects, they don't let it numb their critical faculties. Tossing away the shield of journalistic objectivity and refusing the shovel of fannish boosterism, they write in the hopes of starting honest and intelligent discussions about these oft-enjoyed but rarely examined artforms.

The Nature of the Hero, Rowling-Style

A few months ago, I decided to take the plunge: I would burn through the Harry Potter series, now complete, all in one go. It's been... interesting. I've discovered all kinds of things I had not realized before, including the fact that Harry is - to put it diplomatically - not a particularly effective hero.
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All I Want For Christmas Is A Few Good Books

In the spirit of the season, here are ten, in alphabetical order by author.

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ONE TRILLION AND ONE LEANING TOWERS

1. Overture Island
On December 4, 2008, the future ended. The event that marked its end was the death of a 92-year old man from the not uncommon cause of heart failure. It would not have been an epoch-ending event save for one detail: the man’s name was Forest J Ackerman.

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Pitch in yours.

The sound of electricity, the sound of water. Artist Atsushi Fukunaga creates sculptures with giongo or manga's onomatopoeic sound effects. ( via One Inch Punch and thanks, Mr. Dave!) ~Did you know Ursula Le Guin worked on an Earthsea screenplay with Peeping Tom and Black Narcissus' Michael Powell? I didn't. There's more in her Vice Magazine interview. (via Kaiju Shakedown) ~Origin Museum director, Joe Garrity, writes the Artful Gamer about building Richard "Lord British" Garriott an Ultima reagent box:  "The Reagent Box ended up to be a 2-year effort in finding the individual reagents and binding each to a velvet base with brass wire, presenting them with a 19th-century-scientific look."
~

Every day is fun day at Kaiju Shakedown. This time:  chibi Watchmen, awesome criterion-type designs for Chinese movies and a trailer for Cat Head Theatre's upcoming samurai film.

~American Elf James Kochalka is stuck in Vermont. Watch it. ~
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