Essays



The New Nine at Carne: The Kilmore 9
After playing Carne twice last fall, I wanted to share my thoughts on the recent and brilliant expansion at Carne Golf Links at Belmullet. The new work was a collaboration over time and space between Jim Engh, Ally McIntosh, and...
(March 30, 2014)


Robert McNamara: An Appreciation
For students of organizational thinking, one of the last of the late modernist thinkers, and an important one, died this month. Naturally, most assessments of his life opened and closed with the geopolitics of the cold war, specifically on his...
(July 14, 2009)


Unpack This Heart: Synecdoche, New York (Review)
The following ideas may not enhance a viewing of or even appear relevant to the film. Taken together, the film appears to be not so much the struggles of a man who fears a meaningless death, but an examination of...
(November 20, 2008)


Inland Empire (Review)
"A painted picture is like a vehicle. One can either sit in the driveway and take it apart or one can get in it and go somewhere." - Mark Tansey That's exactly how I approach comments on David Lynch's Inland...
(October 19, 2008)


Optative Cartesianism
When someone asks me if I'm in line for something (and I am) my response is always the same: "I hope so." It's a maximally correct response that covers me if I'm in error. I don't pass the error onto...
(December 5, 2007)


Best Selling Philosophy Videogames—December 2006
McSweeneys.net passed on this list. I got the impression they didn't pass on anything. Best Selling Philosophy Videogames—December 2006 1. Extension 2. Zombies II: Experience the illusion of choice and intentionality 3. Qualia 2007 4. An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding:...
(February 17, 2007)


"The Life Aquatic" preview review
Director Wes Anderson continues a progression toward oversized casts and abstracted storylines, with middling results. At least the test preview of "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" I attended last week did. "Rushmore" used theater as a visual theme; "The...
(December 18, 2004)


20350
The pentagon has five sides and four zip codes...
(August 24, 2000)