Unqualified Offerings

Support the Troops’ Assault on . . . Parnassus - So I’m researching a paper on the NEA, which is how I learned of its latest high-profile project, Operation Homecoming. In Chair Dana Gioia’s words:
In coordination with all four branches of the Armed Forces and the Department of Defense, the Arts Endowment is sponsoring writing […]

right now. Maybe it’s the heat. I’ve read some nice stuff recently, though, and you can too:
Will Wilkinson has a thoroughly entertaining review in Reason of two books about Gouverneur Morris, the Founding Father your mother warned you about. If you’re like me, you read a lot more book reviews than you read books, so […]

appears this morning on the American Spectator’s website. As always when I turn heavy blogging into an article, I end up producing more original verbiage than I expect. The first sentence was designed to please Nielsen Hayden’s everywhere.

Spider-Blogging: On the Right Hand - Conservative and libertarian reaction to the movie pours in: Andrew Olmsted, Alex Knapp and Daniel Drezner, plus Chris Matthew Sciabarra. Chris’ article reminds me of a puzzle:
1) Steve Ditko is a big Objectivist type.
2) You can’t get much farther from the Objectivist ethos than “With great power there must […]

And in Response DOD Announces New “Ultimate” Pentagon - That manga boom - it’s everywhere:
In an effort to increase readership of its annual defence white paper, Japan’s defence ministry plans to issue a version of it as a “manga” comic book.
“We’d like to be able to reach the younger generations, those in their 20s and […]

Spider-Blogging Monday! - All Spider-Man 2 spoilers, all the time! Start here and work up.

Spider-Blogging 6: “Cool Spidey Outfit!” - So I liked the movie. You figured that out. Since that’s not true for some people, it’s worth noting some of the film’s formal virtues.
The “Mary Jane post” that starts us off discusses the care with which the film is framed. While I personally think the “Christ figure!” […]

Spoiler-Blogging 5: the Virtue of Inequality - “With great power must come great responsibility,” say Uncle Ben, Stan Lee and Peter Parker. (Not, presumably, Steve Ditko.) But there’s a flip side to that: you can’t accept great responsibility without great “power” -really, resources. Bill Gates can do a lot more to combat disease than I […]

Spider-Blogging 4: Is Aunt May a Bitch or What? - Let me make one thing clear right now. If Rosemary Harris doesn’t get “Best Supporting Actress” for this movie there will be hell to pay. The Academy’s prejudice that SF films should get technical awards only - finally broken by “Return of the King” - […]

way to ease Harry’s pain? Aunt May, who raised Peter, is losing the house in which she raised him. Surely, if he applied his powers and talents - and attention - to the problem, he could help her save it, safely, legally and ethically.
“Joe’s thirty-minute guarantee is a promise, Peter!” Mr. Aziz upbraids him at […]

Spoiler-Blogging 2: Isn’t It Time Someone Saved YOUR Life? - Our title comes from the movie’s most important question, asked by Mary Jane Watson of Peter Parker after her “runaway bride” act. Like all rhetorical questions, the answer is obvious, which brings us back to one of Matthew Yglesias’ few remaining misunderstandings about the film. […]

Spoiler-Blogging: When Liberals Attack! - Matthew Yglesias somewhat misses the point of Spider-Man 2; Henry Farrell somewhat sets him straight; Brayden King somewhat understands the most important thing about the movie; and Matthew integrates their insights into a somewhat greater understanding and appreciation of the film. I think if they weren’t liberals they could get […]