For the Love of Animals 

Amy Wright

Humans are complex creatures. Indeed, there are mystery of our own species that the brightest and most rigorous minds have had yet to solve, at least in any satisfying way. One of these is the massive, echoing gap that can exist between intention and perception. Especially when it comes to comedy. Humour itself is subjective as is what one finds to be funny. This is a large part of the reason there are so many different types and modes of humour, developed over decades and sometimes centuries. There is nearly literally one for every taste and which one or group of them one prefers depends on individual perspective. 

Despite this fact, and the general acceptance of the fact that humour is a subjective matter of taste, there are still some modes that are consistently looked down on if not seen as downright harmful. That some forms are more popular than others, particularly in different times and places, is a given. For a few, select types of comedy to be more or less marked out for censure, often on grounds that are exaggerated if not entirely made up is another.

One subset of comedy that never seems to get a fair shake is the so-called “Screwball Comedy”. Generally regarded as brainless stupidity at best and socially irresponsible at worst, no matter how well they are done, these Comedies, usually films, tend to end up on a lot more hit lists that any other. One of the most recent examples of this is when, in the throes of a massive scandal about sexual harassment and assault at a college fraternity, a comparison was made to the situation being like a “21^st Century Animal House.”

Rather than commenting on the case directly, the charges being serious issues I personally take very seriously, I would rather like to explore more generally how such a misunderstanding of both the theme and content of a film like Animal House could come to be made in the first place. There are several basic misunderstandings about both the theme and the content of the film though it really comes down to three basic ones.

1. The Stars of the Show

While the descriptor of the title can be used to refer to both the film as a whole as well as the Delta fraternity if focuses on, the real protagonists of the story are Kent and Larry, played by Tom Hulce who would go on to an Oscar-winning turn as Mozart in Amadeus. Not only are they the first characters we see, they are also the characters through whom the audiences experiences the story.

2. Sex, Sex, Sex Nothing but Sex

Sex related jokes are nothing new, dating back at least to ancient Greece. Many modern comedies also use them and not only in styles like “Blue” humour which are notable for it. While there is certainly an undercurrent of sex running through Animal House it is handled in a very interesting way. Despite a general reputation for raunchiness and being made in the late 1970s, the film is hardly a fight song for rape culture. It has exactly three scenes with nudity, both male and female, only one of which is in an overtly sexual context. In all three cases the scenes are played for laughs at the expense of a male character. There are more scenes that are sexually referential but they tend to brief and either consensual or with the male as the butt of the joke. There is exactly one instance of what could be considered sexual assault in which a woman is kissed without her consent and even here this is done by a character who is clearly a villain. So rather than being presented as someone to follow as a role model this incident serves as yet another reason to hate the guy. Such instances are also often used to set up a punchline usually to make a greater point.

This is seen clearly in the scene in which Larry is taken upstairs by a girl he invited to a party. Things go basically as expected the girl as excited about the situation as Larry is. The humour starts when the girl, apropos of nothing, suddenly passes out. There then follows a variation on the angel and devil on the shoulder trope in which Larry decides not to go ahead with the coupling and, not owning a car, takes the still unconscious girl home in a shopping cart, stopping the cart outside, ringing the bell and running away before her dad, who turns out to be the university dean, answers. Whether or not this is funny depends on your individual sense of humour but there is an even more important point. Rather than giving in to temptation and hurting an innocent girl, Larry does the right thing, not only not harming her but taking responsibility for her safety. Despite all the craziness around him, Larry really is really an okay guy and so are most of the other characters in the Delta fraternity.

There is even a case to be made for John Belushi's character Bluto. While by far the most unruly of an unruly lot he is also fairly sympathetic when viewed in a particular light. It is made clear that he does what he does because it is really all he has. He is basically a failure with a 0.0 GPA who steals food from the cafeteria because he is poor and drinks and pulls pranks to forget about his problems and fight against his lot in life. While he can be a bit of a letch, he is also almost always the butt of the joke. Sure, he is a rowdy, drunken buffoon with a mouth like a sewer and a mind like a gutter but he is far from dangerous, except maybe to himself.

3. There Is No Real Meaning

There has been some debate over the film's meaning. Most tend to see it as a stupid but harmless comedy that hasn't aged terribly well. Others see it as retrograde, sexist trash from a bygone era they're glad is over. Both of these are fair enough but also completely miss the point. The real themes of Animal House are those of friendship, unity and individuality. Despite the cheap jokes and occasionally questionable politics if the film is anti anything it is anti-authority. Bolstering the underdog and the misfit against the arbitrary and often cruel structures of society, as represented by the university dean and the rival frat made up entirely of the sort of cruel, petty, racist, sexist, rich kids who go on to choice positions in the Free Masons and The Bilderberg Group. 

A Field Guide to Goths

Amy Wright

Sub-cultures have a tendency to be misunderstood. An inherent risk of going against what the what the societal puppet-masters decree. From Flappers to to Emos, the different and the rebellious have long gotten flack, mostly from those in regular society, “normies” to the rest of us, with little to no real idea of what is actually going on. For a “modern” example even Millennials should be able to follow, look no further that the “Dark Web.” There a lot of pretty crazy stories about what goes on on this dark and mysterious “basement of the internet”, though these are mostly, and most loudly, repeated by those with no direct experience with it an have gotten all their their information through hearsay. Are there criminals on the Dark Web doing dastardly criminal deeds? Probably but you don't go fire-bombing an entire city just because there might be a few terrorist hiding there. That would be insane.

Few communities have gotten more more vitriol than the Goths. Little more than a branch of the Post-Punk movement in music, Goths have been suspected and blamed for all manner of nastiness over the years. From the idea that Goth is “mostly a gang phenomenon” to mass murder and school-shootings none of these assumptions are actually true. I have been around for a while an have never seen or even heard about a “gang” of Goths. A group yes, even a “gaggle” but never an “gang”. The associations with violence are just weird, most cases either being assumed to have been done by Goth with little to no actual evidence. Even in the (very) odd cases when perpetrators of the Goth persuasion, blaming the actions of disturbed individuals who happen to have adopted the Goth style – emphasis on the word “style” - is like making blanket statements against rabbits and mascots every time a shopping mall Easter Bunny snaps.

Gradually, normies are beginning to realize they might have been a bit rash in condemning an entire sub-set of people as freaks and murderers (one step at a time), while the popularity of the Goth scene has remained more or less steady for the past thirty years, despite bad press like Columbine and, the greatest threat to the survival of the scene, Hot Topic. In the spirit of endurance and understanding, I would like to offer the following guide to Goth culture.

Black As Night, Black As Coal

Black is, of course, a major part of Goth culture. It is the colour of mourning in the Western world, with the exception of Mexico, and Goths are known to have an affinity for motifs of death. Morbid as this may sound, it is not as it weird as it is often assumed to be. The emphasis on death by the majority of Goths is a tradition with its roots in ancient Egypt. The general idea is to accept death is the best way to truly appreciate and celebrate life. At least that is the theory. Though it should be noted that dressing in all black all the time is also a marker of a newer member or a really literal person. Seasoned Goths mix it up with grey, red, blue and purple.

Painted Ladies (and Gentlemen)

While not common to all Goths, make-up is used by many and to varying degrees. From basic mascara and eyeshadow, on boys and girls, too full face paint and lipstick, make-up has been a part of the Goth scene more or less from the beginning. It is unclear how it started but has become a major part of the style.

Learning To Love Your Stoneface

It is a stereotype to be sure but it is not for no reason that Goths are know for being a bit dower. It is a impression some put a good deal of effort into maintaining. While this used to be standard operating procedure, more recent generations, since about the late 90s have lightened up on this mostly arbitrary “rule.” It is now okay for goth to be both amused and amusing, to the point there are a few goth-ish theme comedians such as Noel Fielding and Aurelio Voltaire.

Like A Hole In the Head

There has been a trend in recent years towards putting holes where none were before. Though, to be fair, this apparent preference toward post natal perforation seems to have more to do it the rather recent association with facial piecing and rebellion, particularly in the young, than anything specific in the Goth tribe itself.

Food For The Soul

Arguably the most important aspect of the sub-culture Goths have a much wider musical pallet than it might first appear to outside observers. There is, of course, the music most associated with “Goth” that came about in the 80s. Bauhaus, The Cure, Specimen, that sort of thing. Though there is also the Death Rock incarnation of post-Punk all which it is all based, as well as the dark synth pop of the likes of Depeche Mode. On the gentler side there is the etherial stylings of The Cocteau Twins and the neo-classical epicness of The Vernian Process. Something for everyone!

To the Roots

T.K. McNeil

The term “going digital” can have some odd associations. Though it really only means content stored on a computerized device, there can be some peculiar assumptions made about what digital content is and should be. While there have been new genres and formats created or at least inspired by the new, digital infrastructure (blogs, vlogs, podcasting etc.), there is also a good deal of content in traditional styles that are available mostly, if not exclusively, online. 

In such cases, the web being used as a promotional tool as opposed to the platform itself. Much like when music videos were broadcast on traditional television to promote artists, while live performances and records were the primary commodity. 

An element that stands out in the music currently available online, is how staunchly traditional some of it is. At times to the point of the anachronistic. There are the intentionally jocular “Pirate Metal” stylings of Alestorm, which are basically high-powered sea-shanties, and the partially a Capella pieces of Ye Banished Privateers, some of which are literal sea-shanties.

On the darker end there is Arkona who blend Russian Folk music and Death Metal in a counter-intuitive combination on par with peanut butter and chocolate. Even deeper into the roots is Patty Gurdy. Primarily the hurdy-gurdyist and second vocalist for the 6-piece German Folk Metal band Storm Seeker (who also include a keyboardist and cellist), Ms. Gurdy also has a successful online presence on YouTube with a combination of instruction videos on the hurdy-gurdy as well as solo performances and collaborations with other YouTube musicians and members of her band, such as the acoustic version of the band’s song “The Longing” she did with the band's cellist. 

There are also acts such as Faun. With a name referring to a mythical creature and using instruments that pre-date electricity by hundreds of years, all manner of descriptors can, and have, been used for their music, some of them more accurate than others. Though the fact is, the style of music they tend to do is so old that it pre-date the concept of genre itself. There is also a strong element of pre-Christian European paganism in the band's themes, instrumentation and visuals which point to a firmly Medivalist orientation. 

So, perhaps the web is not destroying traditional art forms, as many have claimed, so much as helping them spread and flourish. Switch they have always found a way to do. A large part of the reason they have lasted this long.

Just Cause A Radish Can't Scream

Amy Wright

Food is one of the greatest things about life. Not only does it keep the life train chugging down the tracks, it is one of the things that can make the trip very pleasant. Taste is one of the five major natural senses after all. As with all wonderful things however, food can have its dark side. One of the necessities of life, it can also be a major factor in human mortality, either by having not enough or too much. The first causing death by emaciation the other by obesity, both conditions leading to cardiac arrest. Apart from the influence on human life and death, myriad types of nourishment carry their own issues. From implications for morality to potential negative impacts on the natural environment with which we all need to live or meet a terrible agonizing end. It being quite clear by now that the planet is angry at us and wouldn't mind one bit were the tall, hairless monkeys to suddenly meet with an unfortunate, species-ending “accident.” Making things even more complicated is the constant moving of the goal-posts in terms of what foods are “healthy” and which foods are not healthy. It can be very difficult to know what to eat or how much. There is however one square of the food groups chart that should be avoided at all costs if one wants to live an happy, healthy, moral life: Fruit and Vegetables.

Contrary to popular prejudice, so-called “inhuman organisms”, particularly “plants” do have feelings. Numerous studies by trained botanists with real degrees from accredited universities, found that if they connected sensors to plants, the other plants would react when one of them was picked. Turns out that plants have unconscious, driving group empathy. Which is more than I can say for most most humans I know. There are those who would have you believe that slaughtering and eating animals for food is “wrong”, while wantonly and mindlessly eating the dismembered elements of these beautiful living things. Turns out you can't violently remove an integral part of any living organism, or extract it from the literal roots of its life without causing it serious harm or damage. Go figure.

Much has been made about the environmental damage associated with the ranching and processing of farm animals, particularly in terms of the land required. While they are not as obvious a problem because they do not tend to be “cleared”, orchards also take up precious land space and do little to help the surrounding environment, monopolizing land that could be put to better use. Uses such as apple tree and berry bush sanctuaries where they can be free to grow and exist in peace or, even better, a printing factory specializing in environmentally-friendly hemp bags and apparel declaring how one supports the environment.

If this were not bad enough, fruits and vegetables, clearly the work of an evil conspiracy, have to be sprayed with chemicals to keep insects from ruining them. Chemicals which have an unfortunate tendency to be sprayed while the workers, mostly criminally underpaid migrants, are picking the fruit and veg in question. Still want to complain about the “health ramifications” and “moral issues” around beef?            

   Just My Type

Amy Wright

We are living in the Information Age. A fact well known to most who currently have their eyes open. What is less known, and certainly not emphasized the Tech. Evangelists living under the self-induced delusion that technology is the next step in human evolution, is that we have been living in the information age for longer than anyone could possibly imagine.

Strictly speaking, the first piece of communications technology was invented in the late 15^th century. I am, of course, referring to the printing press. As long as there has there has been movable type there has been quickly producible, readily available information in the form of what we grand old grey beards like to call “books” (ask your parents). The next major innovation took nearly four-hundred years but such was the speed of human ingenuity before the availability of Chinese sweat shops.

Handwriting, while a beautiful and unique form of art can also be a giant pain in the ass, not to mention the wrist. Which explains the unbridled confusion that met the launch of the first “typewriter” distributed by the Remington company in 1873. More complex than a field rife and requiring roughly the same amount of effort as industrial machinery, the contraption was not an immediate hit. One of the few willing to give it a try at the time being Mark Twain, though I don't believe that this should be held against it.

As usually happens in such cases, except for notions like guacamole milkshakes which tend to be dead on arrival, improvements were made and the typewriter would define several generations of writers from the turn-of-the-century right up until the first, stumbling, steps of the computer industry in the early 1980s. A shift in mindset which would eventually lead to the slow death of the typewriter. Still only the second worst thing IBM did in its over hundred year history.

It is not usually like me to curse but darn it, this is simply not fair. Typewriters where here first, besides which, modern computers might have a few features that are lacking on their progenitors, like spell-checks and the ability to backspace, but they have their draw backs as well. For all the talk I hear praising computers, there is just as much said about the problems users have with them. The “bugs” and the “software” and the cost to buy them in the first place, let alone to get them fixed.

Many of the biggest issues with computers could be solved by simply reverting to the good old typewriter. Sure, they are not exactly portable and need to be oiled, the ribbons run out and can be difficult to find and if you make a mistake you have to white out and type over them word by word and okay, the “cut” and “paste” tended to be a lot more literal so it is generally a good idea of what order you want things to be in before you start writing. It is just one of those things. However, there are also particular advantage no one ever thinks about, so caught up are they in the current tech hysteria. Typewriters make a cool noise. Okay, you actually have to strike the keys but the result is more than worth it. They also never crash, never get a virus, don't even have a web-browser which in itself should cut down on procrastination by about 90%, besides which they look awesome. Sure, you might give yourself a minor hernia getting there but just imagine the looks of the other hipsters down at the coffee shop. And oh the Instragram opportunities. Bitcoin simply cannot buy that sort of quirkiness clout.

Dark Phoenix

T.K. McNeil

It is a sad fact of history that many ideas, both good and bad, simply run out their due time and are resigned to obscurity. Though it also a fact of history, if one looks hard and squints, that it does not run in a strictly linear course and ideas thought to have long ago had their day can see that day dawn once more. The 'Internet Age' (to the shock of many) is no great exception.


At the time of initial publication the Internet, or at least the 'world-wide-web' iteration designed by Tim Berners-Lee, was known to harbour some less than credible information. Mercifully, at this point in time there were rather few people on the 'web' and even fewer 'websites', the lion's share of the content stored there consisting of corporate web-pages for well-known companies and, true to the system's roots as a closed academic network, recognized and peer-reviewed journals and papers. As well as a few, select individuals, of the distinctly computer-savvy sort, airing their grievances on online diaries. A precursor to modern-day 'blogs' that dates back to the late-1980s (no one read them then either).


What a difference two decades can make! In the present Epoch, only a single generation removed form the, rather humble, beginnings of the 'web', the fledging communications network has come to be the dominant communication mode of the new millennium. A situation simply primed form from the resurgence of uninformed, dubious and just plain daft notions into the the public discourse. To paraphrase Silicon Valley instigator and 'virtual reality' impresario Jaron Lanier, everything looks real when it is online.


This phenomena is to do with medium uniformity. All online sources now dram from a fairly limited pool of styalisitc and design templates. A situation making it so that a web-site for a peer-reviewed scientific journal and a conspiracy theory web-site (Alexander Jones, I am looking in your general direction), are next to indistinguishable. A similar situation to the late 18th to early 20th centuries in Europe, when every Thomas, Richard or Harriet with a room and a second-hand printing-press was regarded as a legitimate news source. So, rather than the medium being the message, as some well-meaning folk would have it, the medium is come to obscure the message. Causing it to appear a good deal more credible that it may actually be.




Enter Flat-Earthers, Racial Purity proponents, Anti-Vaxers and Indigo Children. The Victorians also believed in many such notions. Though they lacked the scientific basis and methodological rigour to adequately test them. What, pray tell, is our excuse?

How To Ride A Bike

Amy Wright

While it is not quite modern technology, it has come to my attention that many in the present day are unclear on how best to operate a bicycle. What follows is a handy guide to these wonderful machines.

A Matter of Weight:

The weight of a bicycle makes no real difference in terms of the  speed of the machine. Except in that it will slow things down considerably when the 'feather light' but also exceedingly delicate frame of one's $5,000 dollar bicycle meets with any sort of accident.

Specialized Clothing: 

Despite the claims of many, outside certain types of safety  equipment, specialized clothing is not required for the majority of sporting activities and are, in fact, largely a bamboozle concocted by crafty 'entrepreneurs', and other assorted Carpetbaggers, on the look out for a fast fortune. 

Bicycle Lanes Are Not A Suggestion: 

It is truly perplexing the number of times one is driving one's Bentley on a scenic  coastal motorway, only to spy a gaggle of neon-coloured bicycle enthusiasts riding two or three abreast, down the centre of the road. Despite the designated bicycle lane being clearly marked mere inches away.