August 21, 2005
Going out with a bang
One last post: Paintings of Nuclear Testing from 1946 (via Exclamation Mark). Some of these would make good cover art for a new edition of On the Beach. See also 20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear War and Exit Mundi, a collection of end-of-the-world scenarios, both via Shopiere.
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August 18, 2005
Final marks
I have posted the final marks. Sorry for the delay; a couple of things were still pending. (Those of you whose stuff is pending, the marks I've submitted can be changed when I get the remaining work.)
Your final essays have comments on them, but they are not in the office yet and I am going away for two weeks. You can check your grades on WebCT, and either pick them up after Sept. 3, or drop me a line with your surface address and I will send them to you, again after Sept. 3.
(Joe, I still have your movies. I won't forget.)
Let me say again what a stellar class you were. I really enjoyed our meetings. Hope to see you each again, in one way or another, either in class or at graduation.
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August 9, 2005
DVDs
If I lent you a film (or films), could you get it (them) back to me soon? Thanks.
If you are holding it (them) hostage until I mark your review, a cut-and-paste ransom note is de rigeur.
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Blog marks
posted on WebCT, and brief comments printed out, put in envelops, and left in the Hum. and Lang. office. If you want me to mail them to you, drop me a line.
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July 31, 2005
Making like Gilligan
Folks, I am off to P.E.I. for five days camping, from Monday to Friday of this coming week. That means, effectively, that anyone with work outstanding has until late Friday to get your stuff to the office or my email inbox. Anyone who has handed stuff in — and the two of you know who you are — don't bother checking for your marks in the interim because they won't be posted yet. On the plus side, anyone who has handed anything in but is second-guessing themselves might take the opportunity to do some revisions. Just let me know so I don't mark the wrong review.
Hope you are all recovering from the world ending twice a week. I will post again when I have more news.
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July 27, 2005
Night of the Comet
Joelene has set up a new blog to post about the movie; you can find it here.
(Don't you love the big hair?)
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July 20, 2005
Last winter
I posted about 28 Days Later on my own blog. I will be interested in seeing whether or not my opinion changes, in any respect, after a second viewing.
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Backtracking a little
Go to BoingBoing for some links to cold-war era public service films.
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July 18, 2005
Zombie goodness
[cross-posted to my blog]
It's a strange world, people.
Apparently, scientists have made zombie dogs, à la Frankenstein (link from Exclamation Mark). Very creepy. Unless they are Miniature Schnauzers like my little Sally, in which case it would be perfectly understandable.
Then there is this guy's blog. And be sure to check out some of his links.
But wait, there's more. A quick Google brings us:
Wikipedia: Zombies (they say that 28 Days Later is technically not a zombie movie. As if.) and Zombie computers
The I Love Zombies Page: "Zombie Lovers of the World Unite!"
Zombies at monstrous.com
Zombie links at Yahoo
Slate review of George Romero's Land of the Dead
Some sites about zombie movies
Zombies on the web: a philosophical investigation of zombies
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Zombies
More philosophy of zombies
When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?:
Bottom line? My guess is that within 4-6 hours there would be scattered blackouts and brownouts in numerous areas, within 12 hours much of the system would be unstable, and within 24 hours most portions of the United States and Canada, aside from a rare island of service in a rural area near a hydroelectric source, would be without power. Some installations served by wind farms and solar might continue, but they would be very small. By the end of a week, I'd be surprised if more than a few abandoned sites were still supplying power.
Preparing for zombies: "This website includes the common sense advice for preparing for a zombie invasion"
Zombie Infection Simulation v2.3 - The Original (Warning: the graphic would not go away once I had brought it up. It infected my screen!). Created by the same person who brings us Urban Dead: "a massively multiplayer zombie-infection web-game.... Help to evacuate or loot a quarantined city, before the zombies make you one of them."
Zombies!!!: a board game.
ZOMBIES on flickr
Living with Zombies: an online comic
Zombies?: another online comic
Zombies Calling: yet another comic
Zombies and Voodoo Trivia Quiz (my score was respectable)
The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency
All Things Zombie: "Your Zombie Resource Site!"
Brains4Zombies.com, "Your online home for Brains and Brain-related Products," an Amazon.com parody.
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
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July 14, 2005
Grading
I have enabled WebCT; login here to access your grades. Marked assignments will be placed in the shelves on the left when you enter the Humanities and Languages office, so you can collect them between classes if you like. Not a whole lot there yet, but I'm working on it.
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July 13, 2005
Ha!
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July 6, 2005
And a good time was had by all
We watched A Boy and His Dog today. Well, most of us did. Two of you need to get the DVD from me. If you don't want to wait until Monday, when I will next be in, you could arrange to pick it up from a classmate of yours — let's call her "J" — who has it now, who lives uptown, and who has suggested that I give her email address to either of you if you want to arrange to get it from her between now and Monday. So email me or drop me a line in the comments here. Otherwise, next week it is.
In other movie news, I just scored a copy of Night of the Comet on Ebay.ca. It should be here soon.
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July 2, 2005
Short stories
If you would like some questions to kick-start your blogging on the readings for Monday, you might consider some of the following:
Can you make any generalizations about the differences between the visions of male versus female authors?Joanna Russ's story refers to a universe she explores at much greater length in one of her novels, The Female Man (1975). Would you be interested in reading it? Why or why not? (Good topic for a review, btw.)
How is sexuality figured in these texts? How do these texts compare, in this regard, with the novels and films we have already discussed? What about gender roles?
Compare the text and graphic versions of "A Boy and His Dog."
How do the other two stories in the graphic series Vic and Blood adjust your reading of "A Boy and His Dog"? If they do.
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Blogging
Those of you who haven't been posting much (or at all), remember that I asked for an average of two substantial posts a week. If you are having problems blogging, talk to me or one of your more prolific classmates. If you are really having problems blogging, you might consider handing me in journal entries, either in hard copy or on disk. I would like to receive them as we go, however, and not all at the end.
Email me, come in during office hours, or catch me after class if you want to talk to me about this.
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July 1, 2005
By the way
I talk about you guys behind your backs.
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