I write this introduction post-facto, in order to denounce myself. I am guilty, though I know not for what. On the one hand I’m trying very hard to be critical; on the other hand, I must be critical of criticism; and by accusing criticism of being uncritical, I accuse myself. This “probe” – in the Read More
There’s an argument to be made that the video game, as a medium, is inherently post-modern. If that, as a statement, is too general or perhaps diminutive, then it’s perhaps safer to say that the medium reflects certain key characteristics of post-modernism as it appears in art: there’s a tendency towards self-reflexivity, an arguably necessary Read More
Game of Thrones is the most pirated television show in the world, with up to 1.5 million copies being downloaded on a single day. Additionally, the book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has sold more than 58 million copies, and Archive of Our Own returns more than 150 000 unique fanfics of Game of Thrones Read More
Independent game-making has, despite its relatively short history, seen a significant evolution. “Indie” games, as they are known, are now associated with such popular titles as Minecraft (2011), The Stanley Parable (2013), and Don’t Starve (2013) – games that have unquestionably penetrated mainstream consciousness. There is a certain sophistication associated with the Indie genre nowadays, Read More
I can still remember the pang of disappointment that accompanied the email. GirlAttorneys – or, in the du jour stylization of the time, GIRLATTORNEYS – a music blog that I had run with a couple of friends for close to a year, had been permanently shutdown by Blogger for one too many DMCA takedown notices. Read More
In his article “Piracy as a Business Force”, Adrian Jones presents us with a detailed history of pirate radio and its ambitious goal of challenging the public monopolies of its time. When it was first created, one such monopoly was the BBC, which acted as a “single, public-service broadcaster” that Jones argues “restrict[ed] the ability Read More
Who is Toronto? Toronto seems to lack a city-identity that other Canadian cities effortlessly claim. It’s not historic like Quebec, friendly like St John’s, artsy like Montreal, family-friendly like Calgary, or even mild and temperate like Vancouver. Worse still, this ostensible lack of identity seems to draw the ire of pretty much everyone else in Read More
Siva Vaidhyanathan’s “Hep Cats and Copy Cats: American Music Challenges the Copyright Tradition” provides us with rich starting points for thinking about American music history and its frequently fraught relationship with copyright mechanisms. In particular, I find his treatment of rap’s history to be especially nuanced, with important attention paid to Dick Hebdige’s work on Read More
In his article, “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism”, Jonathan Lethem recounts a story wherein he describes the ‘invention’ of a song by blues legend Muddy Waters. When asked where the inspiration for the song arose, Waters cites five different sources: his own personal creation, sudden inspiration, he heard “a version by Johnson”, his mentor Read More
[Please allow me to post this incomplete version of the probe (I still don’t know what Hay is talking about), the final version of which will be up by Monday. As can be seen, my main concern is that Hay’s thought process needs explaining; not how he got to his conclusions, but how he got Read More