Writing

Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story. Resolve to Be a More Productive Writer (Happy New Year) 6 Glitches That Accidentally Invented Modern Gaming. Half of the art you enjoy every day is probably due to some happy accident. For instance, most of the tension in Jaws can be credited to the fact that the fake shark they were using was a mechanical nightmare and too ridiculous to show on screen. You wouldn't think video games would be subject to this, however -- a mistake in the code of a game would most likely just melt your Xbox (again) rather than invent some fun new game mechanic.

Yet, some of the most iconic features of games can be credited to serendipity: A Bad Mouse Click Leads to Lara Croft's Rack It's not fair to say that Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are only famous for one reason (or even two). Via 101 Video GamesThose are the protruding orbs on her chest. Well, as it turns out, Lara's bust is a result of a mistake. And apparently replaced them with oil-change funnels. Via TheAngryPixel.comYep. Lara Croft and her blockbuster franchise paved the way for female game characters. A Racing Game Glitch Gives Birth to Grand Theft Auto. An Anime Explosion: Challenging themes, complex... What was the last Japanese movie you saw?

Chances are it was “Spirited Away,” the largest grossing movie ever to come out of Japan, or maybe it was “Princess Mononoke,” another very popular film. The better question may be, “What was the last live-action Japanese movie you saw?” That’s because more than half of all movies and television programs produced in Japan are animation, or anime as it is better known. But these are not the cartoons of your youth—they are often sophisticated, sometimes violent and frequently have adult themes. You won’t find the likes of Betty and Barney Rubble in these films. Dr. “This student showed me a manga called ‘Akira,’” she said. Not too much later, Napier happened to be in London when the anime “Akira” was released there. Sheik's Gender - Sheik 3DS. The culture of fear : why Americans are afraid of the wrong things (Book, 1999) [UC Irvine Libraries] This is a terrific non-fiction book about how special interests, news organizations, and the government manipulate the populace through fear tactics.

Researching social epidemics such as airline safety, school violence and road rage (among many others), Glassner pretty effectively illustrates how we are fed a diet of fear by trumped up "experts," and people who have a stake in keeping us afraid. This second situ is what was appalling to me. If your livelihood is consulting and giving speeches about crack babies, OF COURSE you're going to go on 60 Minutes or NBC News or some local station to trumpet the scourge, danger and epidemic of crack babies.

My wife read this book right after I did, and we took to announcing "The Culture" anytime we heard one of the tell-tale teasers as an intro or outro to a TV show: Voice-over: "Coming up at 11, Mexican immigrants are being issued handguns and cocaine, and then bussed right to your child's school playground. The panic virus : a true story of medicine, science, and fear (Book, 2011) [UC Irvine Libraries] If this review is incoherent, it's because I stayed up way too late finishing this book...

Seth Mnookin chronicles the history of the feared vaccine-autism connection. Until I read The Panic Virus, I wasn't positive which side the data finally came down on, but now I know. My main take-aways: 1. Only three vaccines ever did contain thimerosal (ethylmercury) as a preservative. 2. 3. 4. The stories of desperate parents struggling with severely autistic children were heartbreaking. Mnookin's discussion of the human tendency to fall victim to cognitive biases and to find comfort in conspiracy theories made me question my own tendencies in food writing to consider Big Ag as some kind of evil empire out to kill everyone with pesticides and genetically-modified seeds.

I highly, highly recommend this book. Architecture of fear (Book, 1997) [UC Irvine Libraries] False alarm : the truth about the epidemic of fear (Book, 2005) [UC Irvine Libraries] Bowling for Columbine (DVD video, 2003) [UC Irvine Libraries] The color of crime: racial hoaxes ... - Katheryn K. Russell, Katheryn Russell-Brown. Law Journal Library - HeinOnline.org.