2D 5

How AAA Studios Killed 2D

A recent thread on X by author JD Cowan kicked off a trip down gaming memory lane. In particular, he addressed how AAA studios killed 2D games for a generation. Related: FF7: The 1st Unfinished AAA Game? JD is right. The fifth home video game console generation was when game…
May 22, 202418 Comments
1990s TV

Watching the 90s Watch the 90s

Opining about the 1990s is all the rage in the internet salons these days. If you haven't been following the debate, it may come as some surprise that nostalgia for the final decade of he twentieth century is now a subject of controversy. The disagreement arises between those who want…
May 20, 202426 Comments
We Live in a Society

A Sane and Healthy Society

With Con Inc collapsing, its aging devotees sound like they've suffered a strange form of partial memory loss. They are smart, well-meaning people. Yet the mere utterance of certain buzzwords is enough to make them suspend their Christian morals and carry on like the market is a god. If one…
April 10, 202427 Comments
Last Third Place Mall

The Last of the Third Places

Last week's popular post on the decline of the shopping mall drew robust comment about the societal consequences of losing that public forum. One key idea readers introduced to the discussion was the Third Place. Reader Sian writes: [T]he mall was the last Third Place. Previous and following generations definitely…
March 25, 202413 Comments
Perverse Generation

Faithless and Perverse Generation

American members of Generation Z face overlapping crises of identity, faith, and general happiness, if recent reports are to be believed. According to several high-profile surveys, young adults in America may be the most faithless and perverse generation yet. And they're suffering the mental and spiritual health consequences. Young people…
March 22, 202428 Comments
1990s despair

The 1990s: Decade of Despair

"If only Pat Buchanan had beaten Bush for the nomination!" "If only George Lucas had adapted the Zahn  Trilogy instead of making the Special Editions!" "If only Sega had won the fifth console generation!" "If only Clear Channel hadn't taken over top 40 rock radio!" "If only they'd kept it…
March 5, 202419 Comments
Aaron Bushnell

The Ethic of the Death Cult

Last week we pondered the riddle of the Pop Cult. Today, we have occasion to observe the ethic of the Death Cult, courtesy of the late Aaron Bushnell. Aaron Bushnell — the Air Force engineer who died hours after lighting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in DC on…
February 27, 202411 Comments
SCOTUS

State Steals Catholic Couple’s Son

Pope Francis' comparison of the societal threat posed by gender ideology to the danger of nuclear weapons has proven prophetic again. The Catholic parents of a mentally troubled teenage boy taken by the State of Indiana are appealing to the Supreme Court. In M.C. and J.C. v. Indiana Department of…
February 22, 202411 Comments
Rosenhan Experiment

Revisiting the Rosenhan Hoax

In light of society's recent focus - one might even say hyper focus - on mental health issues, it's a good idea to take a closer look at the concept in question. What is healthy in a psychological sense? What's the difference between sanity and insanity. Where is the line…
February 20, 202416 Comments
Suburban Hip-Hop

Of Hip-Hop and Corporate Pop

Yesterday, over at the Z Blog, the Z Man took up the thread of this blog's posts on the death of rock music and Cultural Ground Zero. Approaching these related phenomena from an alternate angle, he gleaned some new insights. Not discussed is the culture of the managerial class. The…
January 26, 20246 Comments