Omerta

Dear Mr. Rafaelli, It is with great disappointment that I write to you today, a disappointment that I’m sure will be echoed and enhanced by your reaction to the bad news. And the news is bad indeed, because it entails (for me) a loss of nearly a year of my …

Dr. Strangename, or, How I Learned to Talk About Diversity Without Sounding Like an Idiot

If there are two great bugaboos of the American conservative weltanschauung, they are the idea that socialism might ever possibly accomplish something unachievable by unfettered capitalism, and the idea that black people might actually be good for something other than forced labor.  These terrors have manifested themselves in a number of …

Deep Beneath the Skin: Hannibal‘s Flowers of Evil

The character of Hannibal Lecter has had a difficult journey over the years.  The charming, terrifying psychiatrist and serial killer has made his creator, Thomas Harris, very rich, and has become what is known in our media-savvy age as a ‘franchise’, but the artistic merit of that franchise is a …

Flagging Plotlines

LOCAL MAN FRUSTRATED BY IMPLAUSIBLE MASTURBATION FANTASIES CLEVELAND (AP) — Local writer Jim Hennings, 36, blames a case of writer’s block on his inability to masturbate for the last six days, claiming that he is unable to formulate a suitably plausible fantasy scenario. “I’ve been blocked before,” admits Hennings, whose credits …

Quittin’ Time

“Hey, Arzbyx, what’s up?” “Please address me as Overlord Arzbyx the Supervisor, flesh thing, or I shall have you reduced to component chemicals and utilized as cleaning solution.” “Hey, lighten up, boss man. It’s Friday afternoon!” “This necrotizer cannon is not going to build itself, Unit 46031-H.” “So, you going to …