Category Archives: Television

Culture, Taste, and What We’re Thankful For

gg-thanksgiving

What we like can say a lot about us. As sociologist Pierre Bourdieu said, “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.” The claim is that you’re born into a certain milieu, and that ends up influencing what you like. More interestingly, though, these tastes end up “classifying you” through your attitudes toward the tastes of others. You defer to those whose tastes you view as superior and look down on those who can’t match your own cultural cred. When this plays out, we have ourselves a class system.

Continue reading Culture, Taste, and What We’re Thankful For

For Sale: A Throne of Awesome

Let’s be honest for a moment, who amongst us wouldn’t kill hordes of his enemies in order to claim the mighty Iron Throne? To sit upon it and have all of your co-workers and family members recognize your rule over the domain? That’s what I thought… And if you’re like myself and the other Geeky Gents, then Sunday’s season finale has left you craving for more from the lives of House Stark and the Lannisters! Well thanks to HBO, you can now have both! Minus the bloodshed of course.

The HBO online store is now taking orders for a life size replica of the Iron Throne! For those of you not familiar with George R.R. Martin’s epic book series and/or the HBO feature adaptation, Game of Thrones is the first of the series and tells the tale of Westeros and its various struggles, specifically its noble houses and their interactions. It’s presented through a number of plot lines and various points-of-view, making it an immensely in depth story. Continue reading For Sale: A Throne of Awesome

Television: The Return of Toonami

 In what can only be described as an “April Fools’ prank gone right” Cartoon Network’s popular Anime-centric block is scheduled to return after about a 4-year hiatus, on May 26th.

First, here’s a brief history lesson. Toonami began in 1997 and was initially “hosted” by Moltar, a repurposed character from the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon “Space Ghost.” In July of 1999, Toonami switched over to its more commonly known format featuring robotic host “T.O.M.” and his artificial intelligence companion “S.A.R.A.” aboard the spaceship “Absolution.”  In between shows, the block often featured video-game reviews, motivational speeches, and music videos. In addition, the block aired “Total Immersion Events.” These events contained narratives in the world of the Absolution and her crew. They were often promoted on their website in the form of web-games. There were three “TIEs” that pertained to the Absolution while a fourth showcased a five-part “microseries” that ultimately became the Anime series “IGPX.” After various design changes and scheduling adjustments over the years, Toonami was cancelled in the summer of 2008. Continue reading Television: The Return of Toonami