Ravenweb Blog

Ravenweb is a blog devoted to texts, movies, television, PC games, people, popular culture, and writing. Here you will find postings, short reviews, and related links about these subjects. Ravenweb is derived from my current home website, http://www.ravenweb.net/ , and will pull in and reflect much of the content currently available there. I decided to mirror my website postings in Blogger so as to take advantage of the system's easy-to-use administrative, archiving, and publishing features. Blogger templates and information display are also pretty pervasive on the web now, so I wanted to give interested users the option to access my content through a familiar Blogger site template and feed if that is their preference.

American Theocracy is a sobering examination of the real possibility that the U.S. may be a fading power. Citing the downfall of great societies in history, author Kevin Phillips argues that, due to our reliance on dwindling oil, unsustainable credit, and the imperious influence of radical religious politics, the U.S. is facing the possibility of its own collapse. A thick book — both in terms of size and prose style — I don't know that everyone will have the stamina to get through American Theocracy . Still, even for those readers, the points in the text are urgent enough to take notice, even if it's only to read part of the book, tell others about it, or support it in some other way.

IE7 does a decent job of adding browser features introduced and popularized by Firefox, but the new IE adds nothing innovative to web browsing and is at core a product geared at catching up on web interface standards and emerging technologies. I recently installed IE7 on my work laptop. This addition was not from any driving inclination but because I need to have a working instance of all major production browsers for work to test and evaluate public website code. Anyway, it's okay and does a decent job of adding browser features introduced and popularized by Firefox — such as tabbed browsing — but my major reaction is the question: this is it, this is the best the wealthiest software company in the world can come up in the four plus years since IE6 was released? I think I would have looked more favorably upon the effort if Microsoft just took the time to make IE7 an easy to add and remove stand-alone program, like Firefox. As it is, it's still integrated far too much into the ...

Are you more like Superman or Spiderman? Wolverine or Batman? Take the Ravenweb Superhero Survey to find out which superhero you most resemble.

The Player of Games is an SF novel set in Iain M. Banks' Culture series that tells of Jernau Gurgeh, the Culture's greatest game player, who travels to the Empire of Azad to participate in a complex competition that is ultimately a contest between two galactic civilizations. The text flows well and is very engaging as a straightforward SF adventure story. Beyond the surface plot, The Player of Games is thought-provoking and rewarding as an examination of the contrasting values and shortcomings of the Culture and the anti-utopian Empire of Azad. Initially, Banks appears to set the Empire of Azad as an exotic and vibrant anti-utopian alternative to the Culture, with its belief in its own moral perfectibility and willingness to lie and manipulate to shape the galaxy. Further exploration, though, reveals the empire to be depraved and terrifically unjust, recasting the Culture in a better moral light. I definitely recommend The Player of Games .

My column "Rob" aired the morning of October 3rd on WBFO 88.7, the NPR radio affiliate in Buffalo, as part of its "Listener Commentary" series. I've included links below to the WBFO page with audio clips of the recording and the Ravenweb page that originally featured the column. WBFO Page Featuring Column Ravenweb Page Featuring Column

The Pride of Chanur is a space opera set in the Compact, a loose confederacy of alien races bound by trade. The story centers around the unexpected appearance of Tully, a human alien belonging to a previously unknown species, who stows aboard the titular vessel with its lionine hani crew and captain, Pyanfar Chanur. Tully is fleeing the kif, a treacherous species given to thievery and warlike behavior. While the story is entertaining with much to admire, I struggled with Cherryh's writing throughout. To me, Cherryh's prose style feels very rushed and jagged, with too many lengthy sentences stuck together with comma splices, colons, and em dashes. This mars the book's pacing and takes attention away from the story, placing focus instead on the writing construction. Call me a purist, but I still favor simple, declarative sentences. That said, I recognize that prose style is a matter of taste, and I'll admit that I just might not get Cherryh. Certainly, The Pride of C...

Civil War is a 2006 Marvel Comics mini series that centers around the introduction into the United States of the Marvel Universe of a Super-human Registration Act. The conceit is, a super-powers tragedy precipitates a bill requiring the registration, unmasking and regulation of all super heroes -- signed into law by GWB. Some heroes, led by Iron Man, approve of the measure, bringing them into armed conflict with those who see it as a disastrous assault on civil liberties. Leading the charge against the Bush measure: Captain America. I haven't read comics in years but I find the idea for this series very interesting and may check this out if it's released as a graphic novel. Thanks to A. R. Wolff for alerting me to this comic series and for providing the summary that I've reproduced in this posting.

I had the opportunity to visit Ireland recently and have detailed some of my impressions from the trip.

High Fidelity is one of my all-time favorite novels and easily my choice for best contemporary male relationship novel. The novel tells the story of Rob, a thirtysomething pop music junkie just out of a long relationship, who uses music to define and measure his life. Hilarious and true to life, High Fidelity deftly captures the disorientation and actions following the end of a relationship: how Rob reorganizes his record collection in an effort to find security in the familiar; how he reassesses his past relationships and contacts old girlfriends; how he fumbles in his efforts to win back his ex-girlfriend, Laura; how he tortures himself with thoughts of Laura and her new lover; and how ultimately he gets it right when he has an opportunity to reconcile with Laura and does. The novel inspired the film of the same name, starring John Cusack.

In Failed States , Chomsky examines the notion of failed or rogue states and argues convincingly that the U.S. fits the definition of such a state. Defining such states as those "that regard themselves as beyond the reach of domestic or international law, and that suffer from a 'democratic deficit', having democratic forms but with limited substance", Chomsky provides significant evidence in support of his argument, including the U.S.'s lawless military aggression, self-exemption from international law, propping up of anti-democratic dictators, and indifference to the opinions and wishes of the majority of its population. If the text and Chomsky fall short in any area, it's mostly that the author is all argument and evidence, and he provides few practical ideas for moving forward and affecting change from within the power-based systems he critiques. Still, given what most Americans regularly digest as news, this should be required reading for every citizen.

This text comprises Chomsky's thoughts on the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Collected from interviews that Chomsky gave during the first month following the attacks, Chomsky discusses the attacks, Osama bin Laden and the root causes, historical precedents, and possible outcomes. Like much of Chomsky's political writing, 9-11 is frank and revealing, with detailed information about US policy decisions and actions from the past 20 years. The text is definitely worth reading.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is the sequel to the original The Longest Journey, widely considered one of the best PC adventure games ever made. Like its predecessor, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is a deftly conceived and well designed speculative fiction adventure game. The game gets a lot right and boasts a provocative story, memorable characters, beautiful presentation, and a fantastic musical score and voice acting. As good as the game is, though, it's not perfect. The puzzles and combat are very easy and will pose little challenge for veteran gamers. There are also too many sequences in the game for my comfort where control is taken from the player and the story is instead moved ahead though lengthy cut-scenes. Finally, the end of the game feels very rushed and leaves many loose ends untied. Overall, though, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is a worthy sequel to a beloved adventure game classic and will satisfy fans of the original and entertain newcomers to the series.

Everyone Worth Knowing is a trashy, junk food novel about an ordinary woman who joins a Manhattan PR and event-planning firm and subsequently becomes immersed in the superficial, VIP party world. I decided to try this novel after having seen and enjoyed the film The Devil Wears Prada. Just a few chapters into this novel, though, and it quickly became evident that my enjoyment of The Devil Wears Prada was likely more due to the film's director and actors than the text source. Everyone Worth Knowing is a purely formulaic, forgettable novel. The characters are not believable, the writing and grammar are poor, and the plot twists are predictable and cliched. What's worse, the novel is essentially exactly the same as The Devil Wears Prada. Just like the earlier novel, Everyone Worth Knowing features a young, naive girl who joins a high-profile Manhattan company and experiences the trappings, transformation, and toll of surrendering yourself to an all-consuming profession. Fin...

What Happens When We Die purports to provide and summarize new scientific findings and research about Near Death Experiences (NDEs). While the text at first seems promising, it becomes apparent midway through that author Sam Parnia has relatively little to say. Instead of substance and fresh objective research about NDEs, Parnia provides little more than summaries of previous NDE studies, anecdotes, and his own speculations about future NDE and consciousness experiments. As an example, the book is so thin on content that the author resorts to devoting nearly an entire chapter to his difficulties securing funding for an NDE study.

Self-Made Man is one of those rare, insightful books that lives up to and even exceeds the hype. Recounting the year and a half in which author Norah Vincent disguised herself as Ned in order to observe the world of men as an insider, Self-Made Man is at once a fascinating piece of immersion journalism and a serious analysis of gender and gender roles in America. The book is hugely entertaining and very much worth reading. You'll laugh at loud, be inspired to talk about the topics raised by the author, and think and reflect long after you finish the text.

Dispatches from the Edge is journalist Anderson Cooper's chronicle of the big-story news events he has covered as well as his own tragedies and demons. Cooper's text brings together his reflections about Bosnia, famine-wracked Niger, Baghdad during the Iraq War, and the large-scale tragedies of 2005: the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in the US.

The Last Kingdom is a rich historical adventure novel set in ninth century England about an aristocratic English boy, Uhtred, who is captured and raised as a Dane following a Viking incursion into northern Britain. As the novel progresses, Uhtred grapples with divided loyalties, torn between Ragnar, the Danish warrior who raised him like a father, and England, the land of his birth and ancestry. I have to admit, I was skeptical when I started the novel. Ninth century England? How could it not be gloomy? But Cornwell's penchant for historical verisimilitude and fast-paced action make for a very engaging and fun read.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a timeless story of childhood and family relationships. Set in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn in the early 20th Century, the novel is primarily the story of Francie Nolan, an imaginative and resourceful child, who, though often poorly treated by fate and people, plunges forward, indomitable and courageous. This is one of the best and most honest novels I've read and deserves its place among the ranks of perennial American classics. I highly recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn .

A modern-day muckraking text, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is an unflinching look at fast food, the values it embodies, and the world it has made. Examining fast food as both a commodity and a metaphor, Schlosser reports on everything from the poor wages of fast food employees, rising obesity in the US, working conditions in meatpacking plants, and the relationship between fast food business practices and the malling and sprawling of America.