Monthly Archives: February 2013

More on the 2013 Oscars and the ugliness exemplified thereby

I finally found the interview with Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek that I briefly mentioned in yesterday’s Oscar post. A German text version is here and the full interview (in English) is here. Žižek echoes a concern I have had for … Continue reading

Posted in Film | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reflections on the 2013 Oscars

By popular demand, here is the annual Oscar reflections post. I wasn’t actually sure whether I would be watching live this year or not, because of the time differences the Oscars tend to start in the middle of the night … Continue reading

Posted in Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The Evolution of the Crime Genre

The Independent has a nice article about how crime fiction has moved on from the days of the classic “whodunnit” mystery. The article begins by listing Ronald Knox‘s* ten rules for detective fiction from 1929. Now those rules were already … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Pop Culture Overload

Yesterday evening, I chanced to tune into an episode of the popular and long-running German action TV show Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei (Alarm for Cobra 11 – The Highway Police). The premise of the show is simple … Continue reading

Posted in TV | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

February Flurry Linkdump

Yes, it’s another linkdump today, because I’m not feeling all that great. I’ve got a nasty cluster of three aphthous ulcers on the inside of my upper lip. I have been struggling with aphthous ulcers since my teens and though … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Comics, Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Otfried Preußler Remembered and the Nebula Awards

On Monday, Otfried Preußler, writer of many popular German children’s books, died aged 89. Here is a more extensive obituary in German from the Süddeutsche Zeitung. I’m one of the German children and teens who grew up with Preußler’s stories … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Short Linkdump for a Foggy February Day

Over at my Pegasus Pulp blog, I have a post on the renaissance of short fiction, inspired by a recent New York Times article on the subject. The Huffington Post has a great article by Caribbean writer Karen Lord about … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Links, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Controversy, Romance, Translation and Sex – It’s a Valentine’s Day Linkdump

Controversy (or not): The New York Times has an interview with Jodi Picoult, which apparently caused some stir in certain circles. Honestly, I went into the interview thinking I was about to read something incredibly controversial and offensive, but the … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

New Release: Insomnia

Once again, I have a new release to announce. This time around, it’s a psychological suspense novelette (now that is one monster of a term) called Insomnia, which chronicles one man’s growing madness and paranoia all due to his sudden … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The New York Times is Stupid on Plagiarism

The New York Times has an article on the Annette Schavan case and the other political plagiarism affairs in Germany and completely manages to miss the point once again. Because according to the author, one Nicholas Kulish*, apparently it is … Continue reading

Posted in General, Research | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments