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Culture on My Mind – Dragon Con Report 2025 #4: Glamour Geek Revue

Culture on My MindDragon Con Report 2025 #4: Glamour Geek RevueJune 20, 2025 One of the ways that I like to prep for Dragon Con is by listening to the Dragon Con Report podcast. Brought to you by the ESO Network, the podcast is a monthly discussion on all things Dragon Con that counts down to the big event over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. The show is hosted by Michael Gordon, Jennifer…

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Culture on My Mind – Cleaning Up After the Storm: Reflections on Black Widow in the Age of Ultron

Culture on My MindCleaning Up After the Storm: Reflections on Black Widow in the Age of UltronMay 14, 2015 Natasha Romanoff, better known as Black Widow, is a strong female character and role model in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Throughout the movies so far, she has held her own as an agent of SHIELD and as an Avenger. She has capably stopped threats both on a planetary and galactic scale,…

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Culture on My Mind – Thoughts on Gotham

Culture on My MindThoughts on GothamMay 11, 2015 I’m not the typical comic book property fan. I don’t care about canon from book to screen – I’m able to read, and if I wanted to experience the adventures in the pages, I’m more than capable of consuming them – but I do care about consistency within the story itself. That’s where Gotham has failed. The first season of the show started with such…

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Culture on My Mind – Book Review: “Player Choice” by Jeff Deck

Culture on My MindBook Review: “Player Choice” by Jeff DeckApril 17, 2015 Jeff Deck, co-author of The Great Typo Hunt, recently reached out to me to promote his new novel Player Choice. He provided me a copy in exchange for an honest review. It’s 2040. With neural implants, people can play games in an immersive virtual reality known as the aether space. Game designer Glen Cullather has a plan…

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Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)

Culture on My MindLeonard Nimoy (1931-2015)February 27, 2015 It’s difficult to fathom right now, but a legend is truly gone. Leonard Nimoy, icon of the stage and screen, has died at the age of 83. Similar to most fans of his work, I knew him best as the stoic Mr. Spock in the Star Trek franchise. In that role, Nimoy portrayed a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer who was (supposedly) devoid…

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My Only Hope for Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Culture on My MindMy Only Hope for Star Wars: The Force AwakensFebruary 11, 2015 I sincerely have one hope for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I hope that it is good. As silly as it sounds, I hope that is a good movie. Not just good in the it’s a movie with the original cast and has the words star and wars in the title so it has to be good sense, but rather the knock your socks off even if this is…

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Culture on My Mind – Shelving the Star Wars Expanded Universe Makes Sense

Culture on My MindShelving the Star Wars Expanded Universe Makes SenseMay 4, 2014 I’ve been thinking about the recent shake-up in the Star Wars expanded universe, and it’s taken me some time to really sort out my thoughts both in relation to my emotions and good business sense. I agree with the decision, and believe that it makes sense to do it. Part I – The Books and Me It seems fitting that…

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Culture on My Mind – Movie Review: Batman Returns (1992)

Culture on My MindMovie Review: Batman Returns (1992)September 4, 2014 Batman Returns is the oft-maligned second child in the Tim Burton-directed Caped Crusader family. Expectations were so high after the first film that, while being an otherwise enjoyable experience, it had no other choice but to disappoint audiences looking for another Batman. The thing is, this film isn’t supposed to…

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Culture on My Mind – Goodbye, Robin Williams

Culture on My MindGoodbye, Robin WilliamsAugust 13, 2014 Few celebrity deaths in recent times have hit me as hard that of Robin Williams. Unless I have met them in person, I usually see celebrities as people who entertain me for a living, but not as friends or family. It’s a nice touch to wave a greeting, shake hands, or even exchange a few words at a convention, but in general, they are…

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Culture on My Mind – Protecting our Childhoods

Culture on My MindProtecting our ChildhoodsJuly 28, 2014 If there’s one thing fans treasure, it’s the memories that their favorite franchises helped them develop. Science fiction is a metaphor for the human condition, and those memories have the power to develop fans into caring and productive members of society starting at childhood. It’s understandable how placing those personality building…

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Culture on My Mind – A Mighty Lady Thor

Culture on My MindA Mighty Lady ThorJuly 21, 2014 You’re right, a female Thor is a publicity stunt. It honestly couldn’t be any other way. Marvel is an entertainment company, and the way they make money is by drawing as many eyes to their product as possible. That requires publicity. Everything they do requires publicity. The same goes for every book you read, every television episode you watch,…

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Culture on My Mind – Page to Screen: "Sahara" by Clive Cussler

Culture on My MindPage to Screen: “Sahara” by Clive CusslerJuly 16, 2014 Clive Cussler hadn’t really popped up on my radar before a good friend of mine gave me his collection of novels. I knew that Cussler existed, and that he wrote adventure thrillers, but that’s as far as it went. When my friend piled his collection into my car, he told me that Cussler was what he grew up on and that they were…

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Culture on My Mind – Movie Review: Batman (1989)

Culture on My MindMovie Review: Batman (1989)July 11, 2014 Batman is, by far, my favorite on-screen comic book hero. Superman typically (and tragically) embodies the best in humanity, but Batman is a man with money, a sharp brain, and numerous flaws. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the character, and his 50th was celebrated on June 23rd, 1989 with a return to the silver screen in Tim…

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Culture on My Mind – Movie Review: The Ultimate Gift (2006)

Culture on My MindMovie Review: The Ultimate Gift (2006)July 7, 2014 The Ultimate Gift is a dramatic family film based on the best-selling book of the same name by Jim Stovall. Drew Fuller (best known from Army Wives and Charmed) stars as Jason Stevens, a man who earns his inheritance in a most unusual but spiritually fulfilling manner. The movie begins the passing of Jason’s rich grandfather,…

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Movie Review: Green Lantern (2011)

Green Lantern (PG-13, 114 minutes, 2011) Three years down the road, I finally took a couple of hours to watch the live-action cinematic debut of Green Lantern. I’m not particularly familiar with the character, having only seen the superhero in Green Lantern: First Flight, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, and select episodes of the Justice League animated series. Since the movie debuted in June of…

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Culture on My Mind – Book Review: “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn

Culture on My MindBook Review: “Gone Girl” by Gillian FlynnMay 30, 2014 It’s the story that failed to capture me due to unremarkable and uninteresting characters. Gone Girl is a tale of tepid unrepentant characters who torture themselves and everyone around them with overwhelming selfishness and bull-headed ignorance. The first-person point-of-view that alternates from chapter to chapter is a…

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Culture on My Mind – Book Review: “A Children's Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination” by Bryan Young

Culture on My MindBook Review: “A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination” by Bryan YoungMay 7, 2014 An illustrated history of assassination seems like an odd topic for a children’s book. It seems even stranger when the topic becomes the assassination of the President of the United States. But, let’s face it: In the quest to explore the world around them, kids don’t come…