The Political Message of the Star Wars Holiday Special

Okay, I finally wrote up my thoughts on the Star Wars Holiday Special and its message about the fragility of democracy. Hope you enjoy!

Responsible Band Names

This McSweeney's list made me laugh. But I need help with some of the names.

Beers and axe-throwing apparently mix

We've done the escape room. Now we can try this the next time someone has a birthday to celebrate.

(Also, I feel that whoever came up with "Canadian backyard shenanigans" for the sub-headline should get a Pulitzer.)

The Ballad of Porkins

This short essay on the life of Porkins contains so much beauty. Excerpt:

Porkins’s life will be a lonely one. He will work. He will paint his Warhammer miniatures. He will chat about fandom with his few weird friends. And in time, he will die more or less unmourned. 

Then everything changes. The world falls apart. Actually, all the worlds fall apart. Suddenly the Empire is at war. There is a Rebellion. And Porkins meets his moment. 

Porkins could never make it in a real military. But the Rebel Alliance is not a real military. The Rebel Alliance is a scrap-heap outfit that needs anything and anyone it can get. It needs awkward fat autodidacts who have spent their entire adult lives as involuntary celibates, poring over the proper employment of the Incom fighter series in exactly the sort of engagements the Alliance now encounters on world after world.

Politics of Star Wars at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Self-promotion time: I will be giving a talk on the Politics of Star Wars as part of the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art's "Any Three Things" lecture series. They're pairing me up with someone who does electric guitar loops and someone who makes giant pom poms. I don't know how this works.

Thursday, June 15th, 7-8:30PM. Tickets available here.

Every star map ever

This is not exactly wrong.

Spicer goes all in

This may have been the best response to Sean Spicer's Hitler commentary on Tuesday.

Pepsi: That was the biggest PR blunder of the week, year maybe.

United: Hold my beer.

Sean Spicer: LEEEEEEEEEERROOOOOOOY JEEEENNNNNNKINS!

— Lance Bradley (@Lance_Bradley) April 11, 2017