on Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Grant Morrison's classic comic arkham asylum: A serious house on serious earth is haunting, it could easily give you nightmares. Dave McKean's artwork drives the story, making the mysterious Arkham Asylum a real place. There are so many minor details in the artwork that the reader will either obsessively examine everything or be left fearing some subtle symbol has been left in their subconsciousness. Interspliced within the comic is the journal of Amadeus Arkham, who founded the Asylum but also suffered from insanity due to the death of his mother and daughter. Unlike most Batman comics, there isn't much action in arkham asylum. His sanity is tested as the inhabitants of the Asylum (including the doctor) suggest that he belongs with them. The reader is left turning page after page, wandering if some revelation about Batman and the Joker will explain the nature of insanity itself.
on Tuesday, October 22, 2013
(This is part of a chapter by chapter review of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, a review of the first chapter can be found here)
This chapter deals with the African American Civil Rights struggle, a subject which Gladwell's critics probably don't doubt his ability to write accurately about. It begins with a photo of a young black man being bitten by a dog leashed to a white police officer. Gladwell describes the fame the photo has acquired and prompts our sympathy for the young man. After providing a background for the Civil Rights Struggle, Gladwell unexpectedly shifts into "trickster heroes", especially those within African American culture. References to trickster tales are peppered throughout the chapter. We are introduced to Wyatt Walker who worked alongside Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttleworth in desegregating Birmingham. Since most blacks were afraid to join King, and Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety had plenty of empty jail cells, Wyatt figured he had to provoke Connor. Initially he sent 22 protestors marching which the media overestimated to be 1400. After hundreds of children filled prison cells, Walker led a new group of children, outmaneuvering the fire trucks. Bull Connor unleashed his German Shepherds, creating the photo from the beginning of the chapter. The chapter represents the picture. It gives background information about the individuals in the picture. He also refers to minor details of the picture which suggest that the biting isn't as harsh as it seems from an initial glance. It's subtly suggested that the picture is Wyatt's manifestation of the trickster tales told throughout the chapter.
This chapter deals with the African American Civil Rights struggle, a subject which Gladwell's critics probably don't doubt his ability to write accurately about. It begins with a photo of a young black man being bitten by a dog leashed to a white police officer. Gladwell describes the fame the photo has acquired and prompts our sympathy for the young man. After providing a background for the Civil Rights Struggle, Gladwell unexpectedly shifts into "trickster heroes", especially those within African American culture. References to trickster tales are peppered throughout the chapter. We are introduced to Wyatt Walker who worked alongside Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttleworth in desegregating Birmingham. Since most blacks were afraid to join King, and Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety had plenty of empty jail cells, Wyatt figured he had to provoke Connor. Initially he sent 22 protestors marching which the media overestimated to be 1400. After hundreds of children filled prison cells, Walker led a new group of children, outmaneuvering the fire trucks. Bull Connor unleashed his German Shepherds, creating the photo from the beginning of the chapter. The chapter represents the picture. It gives background information about the individuals in the picture. He also refers to minor details of the picture which suggest that the biting isn't as harsh as it seems from an initial glance. It's subtly suggested that the picture is Wyatt's manifestation of the trickster tales told throughout the chapter.
on Sunday, October 20, 2013
(This is part of a chapter by chapter review of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, a review of the first chapter can be found here)
This Chapter tells the story of people who succeed in spite of terrible origins. Jay Friereich was the son of Hungarian immigrants who managed to start a restaurant which went out of business after the great depression. Despite numerous hardships (such as his father committing suicide after the depression) Jay went on to not only become a doctor, but a doctor who discovered and practiced innovative techniques for treating childhood leukemia. Interleaved between the detailed stories of Jay Friereich is a similar story of how the bombing of London gave the survivors strength and an idea of desirable difficulty (presumably Gladwell's original thought as no citation is given for it). He suggests that obstacles can enable us to develop abilities we wouldn't develop otherwise. The rest of the chapter describes theories that losing a parent at a young age can enable creativity and briefly tells the story of Civil Rights leader Fred Shuttleworth's experience dealing with 'near miss' attempts on his life and how that only made him more determined. Lastly, Gladwell explores details of Jay Friereich's struggles (it's never explicitly stated it's strongly hinted at that Friereich has a lack of 'people skills') to have his leukemia treatment accepted.
This Chapter tells the story of people who succeed in spite of terrible origins. Jay Friereich was the son of Hungarian immigrants who managed to start a restaurant which went out of business after the great depression. Despite numerous hardships (such as his father committing suicide after the depression) Jay went on to not only become a doctor, but a doctor who discovered and practiced innovative techniques for treating childhood leukemia. Interleaved between the detailed stories of Jay Friereich is a similar story of how the bombing of London gave the survivors strength and an idea of desirable difficulty (presumably Gladwell's original thought as no citation is given for it). He suggests that obstacles can enable us to develop abilities we wouldn't develop otherwise. The rest of the chapter describes theories that losing a parent at a young age can enable creativity and briefly tells the story of Civil Rights leader Fred Shuttleworth's experience dealing with 'near miss' attempts on his life and how that only made him more determined. Lastly, Gladwell explores details of Jay Friereich's struggles (it's never explicitly stated it's strongly hinted at that Friereich has a lack of 'people skills') to have his leukemia treatment accepted.
on Sunday, October 13, 2013
(This is a review of the fourth Chapter of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell, a review of the first chapter is here )
The second part of Gladwell's book is called "The Theory Of Desirable Difficulty" and it begins with a chapter about dyslexia. I have no doubt that there exist scientists that will be frustrated with the brief description given for how dyslexia works and how brain scans have validated these theories. Then the chapter explains the difficulties dyslexics face. But apparently there are advantages to dyslexia, many entrepreneur's have it, the rest of the chapter is filled with personal stories of successful people with dyslexia.
This chapter took me longer to read than the others and helped me understand why Gladwell is so reviled amongst many scientists. It provoked me to think deeply about important issues (I was diagnosed as learning disabled, though not specifically dyslexia). However, I couldn't come to any provable conclusions about dyslexia, learning disabilities or any of the other issues the chapter touches on. The stereotypical scientists doesn't like to think about something unless it gives him a concrete result.
on Friday, October 11, 2013
(This is the third part of a chapter by chapter review of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell, a review of the first chapter is here)
The third chapter of the first part begins with an explanation of French Art History, something I've never been interested in. As I see it, Gladwell is telling a very abridged version of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged with the Impressionists as the good guys. Perhaps I would have found this chapter more intriguing if Gladwell had included Impressionist artwork in it like the previous chapter had visual representations of the relationship between class size and student success. Oh well, I guess the thought of including pictures didn't occur to Mr Gladwell or his publishers couldn't get the rights to any reproduce impressionist works because the impressionists seek to create an exclusive vibe which appeals to snobby art dealers...
The rest of the chapter is dominated by a story of a young woman who wanted to be a scientist when she was younger but failed to do so when she got to college and high level analysis of what causes college students to major in science. Women who considered majoring in science may find this story therapeutic but I am more concerned with the data. He uses the metaphor "a Big Fish in a Little Pond" or "a Little Fish in a Big Pond" about two dozen times in this chapter. Gladwell shows that there's a relationship with how well students do on their Math SAT relative to other students at their college predicts whether they will major in science better than their SAT score alone. His brilliant female potential scientist did well in most of her classes at an ivy league school, but got a B in Organic Chemistry and decided to stop pursuing science. He shows there's a similar effect in the number of papers PhD's publish, only the very top students have a chance of getting published and the top students at the top school will get published much more than the top students at mediocre schools.
He ends with another personal story about a lawyer who was interested in science's educational experience. This person went to Harvard and ended up becoming a lawyer. Based on the lack of a real name for this person, I believe Gladwell is refering to Barack Obama.
The third chapter of the first part begins with an explanation of French Art History, something I've never been interested in. As I see it, Gladwell is telling a very abridged version of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged with the Impressionists as the good guys. Perhaps I would have found this chapter more intriguing if Gladwell had included Impressionist artwork in it like the previous chapter had visual representations of the relationship between class size and student success. Oh well, I guess the thought of including pictures didn't occur to Mr Gladwell or his publishers couldn't get the rights to any reproduce impressionist works because the impressionists seek to create an exclusive vibe which appeals to snobby art dealers...
The rest of the chapter is dominated by a story of a young woman who wanted to be a scientist when she was younger but failed to do so when she got to college and high level analysis of what causes college students to major in science. Women who considered majoring in science may find this story therapeutic but I am more concerned with the data. He uses the metaphor "a Big Fish in a Little Pond" or "a Little Fish in a Big Pond" about two dozen times in this chapter. Gladwell shows that there's a relationship with how well students do on their Math SAT relative to other students at their college predicts whether they will major in science better than their SAT score alone. His brilliant female potential scientist did well in most of her classes at an ivy league school, but got a B in Organic Chemistry and decided to stop pursuing science. He shows there's a similar effect in the number of papers PhD's publish, only the very top students have a chance of getting published and the top students at the top school will get published much more than the top students at mediocre schools.
He ends with another personal story about a lawyer who was interested in science's educational experience. This person went to Harvard and ended up becoming a lawyer. Based on the lack of a real name for this person, I believe Gladwell is refering to Barack Obama.
on Thursday, October 10, 2013
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader is one of my favorite tellings of the Batman story, but it shouldn't be read by people unfamiliar with Batman. I've tried reading some of Gaiman's other work and found it boring, this book shows that Gaiman is a good writer and able to bring advanced narrative techniques into comic books (though he must use other author's characters and plots to be entertaining). Due to the narration style, this review may contain what some readers consider to be spoilers.
The artwork is amazing, perhaps it's because Gaiman tells the story in such a way that each panel is sufficiently different from any other panel. Additionally the artwork changes to match the style of the stories being told. The title comic involves Batman's major enemies and ends in a way that will disappoint the most hardcore fans. There are four other, shorter stories in this collection. A Black and White World shows Batman and Joker as actors, complaining about the roles they've been playing for so long. Pavane tells the story of a psychiatrist who tries to understand Poison Ivy, though it appears he ends up going crazy in doing so. Based on the artwork, When is a Door appears to be a story entirely contained within Original Sins. Original Sins tells the story of a rich couple threatened by Batman whom decide to interview Batman's enemies in attempt to earn them the public's sympathy (this is the least original story in the collection, it's been done before). When is a Door gives a partial origins story for my favorite Batman villain, the Riddler, my only complaint is that it's not long enough.
The artwork is amazing, perhaps it's because Gaiman tells the story in such a way that each panel is sufficiently different from any other panel. Additionally the artwork changes to match the style of the stories being told. The title comic involves Batman's major enemies and ends in a way that will disappoint the most hardcore fans. There are four other, shorter stories in this collection. A Black and White World shows Batman and Joker as actors, complaining about the roles they've been playing for so long. Pavane tells the story of a psychiatrist who tries to understand Poison Ivy, though it appears he ends up going crazy in doing so. Based on the artwork, When is a Door appears to be a story entirely contained within Original Sins. Original Sins tells the story of a rich couple threatened by Batman whom decide to interview Batman's enemies in attempt to earn them the public's sympathy (this is the least original story in the collection, it's been done before). When is a Door gives a partial origins story for my favorite Batman villain, the Riddler, my only complaint is that it's not long enough.
on Tuesday, October 8, 2013
(This is part of a chapter by chapter review of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, a review of the first chapter can be found here)
Many of Gladwell's critics portray him as liberally biased, in this chapter he does something to combat that. He opens the chapter with a description of a school whose enrollment has fallen, then describes the overwhelming consensus that smaller class sizes lead to better outcomes for students. He then uses data from many countries to show that this assumption is almost always wrong.
Then, without explanation, he switches subjects to a story of an anonymous Hollywood bigshot. Gladwell explores the details of how the bigshot rose from humble circumstances to becoming successful and very wealthy. He then presents some simple graphs that even people who struggle with math should understand (though math experts may find them overly simplistic). Both class size and parental income can be described "Inverted-U curves" (Gladwell cites his father's opinion's on these curves but doesn't ever describe them with a formula, though it's clear from the picture that they're parabolas of the form y = -x2 + mx + b).
The chapter ends with interesting and compelling arguments for why having a class which is too small can be as bad as having a class with too many students (students are likely to argue with each other or be afraid to share their opinions in smaller classes). Additionally he claims that having parents with too much money is harmful because they can't reasonably deny their children anything. The chapter ends by refocusing on the story of David and Goliath, Goliath's excess resources often work against him.
Many of Gladwell's critics portray him as liberally biased, in this chapter he does something to combat that. He opens the chapter with a description of a school whose enrollment has fallen, then describes the overwhelming consensus that smaller class sizes lead to better outcomes for students. He then uses data from many countries to show that this assumption is almost always wrong.
Then, without explanation, he switches subjects to a story of an anonymous Hollywood bigshot. Gladwell explores the details of how the bigshot rose from humble circumstances to becoming successful and very wealthy. He then presents some simple graphs that even people who struggle with math should understand (though math experts may find them overly simplistic). Both class size and parental income can be described "Inverted-U curves" (Gladwell cites his father's opinion's on these curves but doesn't ever describe them with a formula, though it's clear from the picture that they're parabolas of the form y = -x2 + mx + b).
The chapter ends with interesting and compelling arguments for why having a class which is too small can be as bad as having a class with too many students (students are likely to argue with each other or be afraid to share their opinions in smaller classes). Additionally he claims that having parents with too much money is harmful because they can't reasonably deny their children anything. The chapter ends by refocusing on the story of David and Goliath, Goliath's excess resources often work against him.
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