Category Archives: internet

When Is A Good Deed Not A Good Deed? [When Taylor Swift Does It]

Post four about Taylor Swift. How on earth did we get here? I suppose it’s because, for better or for worse, she’s managed to attain the kind of pop culture prevalence and staying power which has resulted in my writing:

Which brings us to this Friday, three days after the artist donated $1,989 to a fan to help her pay off her student loans.

Click the image to be linked to the tumblr post cataloguing the full gift-opening.

The fan in question, Rebekah Bortnicker, created a video which she posted to tumblr, and which I’m half-watching as I write this. It’s actually pretty great. You know what else is actually pretty great, though? The way that some people have been reacting to this news, like nicole and Angela in the comments section of the People article I linked to up above:

thanksnicole

thanksangela

Continue reading

Passing Post-Modernism

It’s 2015, readers, and what better way to start off the year that’s just beginning than by railing on an idea that need to end? Yup, we’re talking Postmodernism here.

Not too long ago, I wrote an article giving an overview of Postmodernism, and it nearly killed me. Yours truly tries to make a point of not including my own judgments in these posts and just let folks draw their own conclusions, but this one- gah. Took every ounce of my (limited) restraint not to rip it to pieces and cackle victoriously as I squat over the grave of Jacques Derrida and…

…well I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?

What’s Postmodernism? Continue reading

The Trial of Michael Brown

These are the facts:

Michael Brown is dead and Darren Wilson, the man who shot him, has been acquitted by a jury.

The public seems to have latched onto this, interpreting the court’s decision as being not only evident of Wilson’s “innocence” but Brown’s guilt.

But guilt over what?

The past days have seen a reversal of public opinion on Michael Brown, with many online posting gifs of the alleged petty theft he committed shortly before his death. Captions have included statements like “a reminder of who Michael Brown really was” and comments as to his size and stature.

Readers, am I the only one who doesn’t think Michael Brown should be tried over how tall he was? Continue reading

A Canadian Reacts to Americans’ Reactions to the Parliament Shootings

First off, I would like to apologize to all of you for not getting more into the spirit of things this All Hallow’s Eve. For some CWR content that fits in with the general theme of spookiness and scariness I’d like to direct you to this Fame Day I wrote about a fun little webcomic and this Writers’ Roundtable where we discussed costumes [both features from last year, and returning eventually, I promise]. Enjoy ’em and come on back, because I’m going to be talking a little about Canada and our neighbour south of the 49th Parallel.

Specifically, I’m going to be covering the tragic and truly frightening [that’s all you get, and it wasn’t even on purpose; this is serious] event that occurred last Wednesday. As every Canadian likely knows by now a gunman shot and killed a soldier on ceremonial guard duty before proceeding into one of the parliament buildings to continue his attack. It was a sobering reminder that such events can happen on our soil and are not relegated to countries across the ocean.

What concerned me most about what happened has nothing to do with whether or not this was an act of large-scale terrorism [which I don’t think it is] or an indication that we have so much to learn when it comes to discussing mental illness [it can be, and we do]. The reason this has been on my mind over a week after the incident took place is the following illustration:

Clicking the image itself will take you to its place in the imgur gallery where you can read the comments posted.

Continue reading

The Stupid Stops Here

Life is a lot like a dairy pasture, in that you can’t get from one side to the other without wading through some serious bull****.

Existence is full of little irrationalities and absurdities, and we’ve got to be able to shrug them off if we’re going to maintain any sanity. That said, every once in a while we’re going to come across a steaming load of stupidity too gigantic to ignore.

Let me show you what I’m talking about:

This “12-Week” Fetus Model

I’ve probably got as many conservative friends on Facebook as I do liberal and leftist (liberal and leftist being two separate categories), so every once in a while I’ll catch something on my news-feed mocking the president, or gun control, or over-regulation. And I don’t have any issue with that. What I do take issue with is what popped onto my screen yesterday morning:

This photo claims that this is what a 12-week fetus looks like.

Let me be clear as possible.

No, it ****ing doesn’t. Continue reading

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer Released, Comics Lover Swears He Will Watch No More

As anyone who has been on the internet since Wednesday night probably knows, the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer has been released online. As a person who has professed his enthusiasm for comic books time and time again let me say to all of you, right now-

Shot-By-Shot Breakdown Of Avengers 2 Trailer Reveals Spoilery Details

-my mind and body are ready.

Let me follow that up by asserting that I plan on doing ever single thing within my power to not look at another trailer before I watch the full-length film next May. I repeat, I will not be watching any new trailers that are released.  Continue reading