The Land of Fruit and Dog Parks
May 21, 2013 § Leave a Comment
In New York, Chris and I would take Nathan to the (from our perspective at the time) mostly adequate dog park in Carl Schurz park. The dog run was about 600 square feet, and depending on the time of day would be packed with anywhere from 8 to 15 large and often aggressive dogs. That wasn’t fun for anyone, least of all Nathan — we’d go through phases where we’d take him a few times, have a bad experience with one of the other dogs and/or owners, then swear off dog parks for good. Eventually we’d worry that Nathan wasn’t getting enough exercise, and the cycle would begin anew. Here in Spokane we won’t have the same kinds of issues; see above, which is nearly 9 minutes of SpokAnimal dog park goodness, shot by doting dogdad Chris. In conclusion, by every metric, I do not understand why anyone would want to live in a big city.
Mass Murder and Men: Modern Primate talks Gun Violence & Gender
February 25, 2013 § Leave a Comment
My fiance Chris Menning just posted a video that addresses the connection between violence, particularly gun violence, and gender, particularly uncompromising smear-the-queer type masculinity. This is smart, and you should watch it. Also I have two cameos in this video, so that’s fun (fun is the wrong word).
Nathan Takes a Bath!!
January 2, 2013 § Leave a Comment
And Chris discusses things like chew toys. It’s a win-win situation!
Taxonomy of a NYC Dog Park: CROSSPOST ON MODERN PRIMATE
November 8, 2012 § 2 Comments
Since adopting our 5 month-old rescue puppy Nathan, Chris and I have spent a great deal of time at the local dog parks. Over the months we have met a number of interesting characters, most of whom fall into 10 basic categories.
In no particular order, these categories are:
- The Frazzled Parent
- The Mean Old Man
- The Breedist
- The Helicopter Parent
- The Dog-Hater
- The Bench Warmer
- The Screamer
- The Apologist
- The Sign Ignorer
- The Know-It-All
You should head on over to Modern Primate & read all about it!
As It Turns Out There is Nothing Fun About Hurricanes
October 29, 2012 § Leave a Comment
The winds are just starting to pick up; it’s like standing blindfolded at the line of scrimmage where all the players are pissed off ghosts.
Twitter has proven to be weirdly comforting. We keep trying to watch movies, but always end up on Twitter instead.
Rum is a good choice, during a hurricane.
I find myself saying “ooh look, FOLKLORE!!”
This exists. It’s too bad that our internet is already so spotty, because otherwise we would be downloading all of the CDs for Nathan.
Our internet is already spotty.
Every day Nathan looks more like a Great Dane (his other half is Pitt Bull, and that’s mostly what he looked like when we adopted him).
Chris is a good hurricane buddy.
It is inadvisable to rent IMAX movies about the sea when you do not have a proper television (we stream all our shows). This shit is weak on a laptop.
Hurricanes are not fun. Anyone who tells you otherwise thinks they know everything.
The full brunt of the storm should arrive within the hour.
Velocinathan
October 25, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Happy Nathanween everyone! Also be sure to check out the BONUS FOOTAGE at the end, when we give Nathan a nice smoked bull penis to gnaw on!
Somewhere Over the Nathan
October 1, 2012 § Leave a Comment
This past weekend (was it last weekend? Who even knows anymore), Chris and I took Nathan to Central Park. He appreciated music, jingle-jangled through the forest, and of course practiced his AMAZING TRICK. Be sure to watch till the very end for a special bonus scene!
How to Train a Willful Puppy, Part 1: Don’t Feed the Troll
September 26, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Crosspost from Modern Primate! Nathan Scott Phillips-Menning! Obedience training! Don’t troll me, dog!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, our first week with Nathan was a mixed bag. When he was good, he was a cuddlebug darling. But when he was bad, he was a gnawing, destruct-o-tron hell-beast. Initially, this Jekyll and Hyde routine was baffling. Chris and I would be on the couch chatting or at our respective computers minding our own damn business when suddenly Nathan would go nuts. He’d knock over his water bowl, pee on the floor even though we just got back from a walk (dude, seriously??), or bounce off the walls for 10 minutes before trying to eat whatever it was that Chris and I were doing. Sitting on the couch? I’ll chomp the shit out of the armrest, thanks. Sending a text message? Lemmie just kick that in the face for you, sir. Eating dinner? Not anymore friend! –And so on. Whenever Nathan would do something naughty, we’d jump up, tell him that and why we were displeased, then direct him away from whatever forbidden thing. Nonono! Here play with Ducky, the squeaking toy you like! No Nathan! Water bowls are not a Frisbee! Nathan come here, we’re going outside, again! And then we’d go for a walk, the length of which would be commensurate to the severity of whatever offense. The worse he was, the further we’d go—which was the only way he’d learn, we thought.
Boy were we wrong! For the thrilling conclusion, click through to the MP!
The Ideological Underpinnings of Progress: New Media’s Past and Future, Week 3
September 24, 2012 § Leave a Comment
So Fall term is clip-clopping along and boy oh boy, why is it nearly October. It’s been a busy few weeks, what with moving to NYC and decorating our apartment and teaching a brand new class and adopting a puppy and going on the job market (sorry there’s no link for that, just imagine taking several wrong turns while hiking in the mountains and finding yourself standing at the mouth of a 10-inch wide crevasse carved into the side of a rock face, and you know there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken on the other side, and you haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon, but your backpack is too wide to fit inside, and all of your water is in your backpack, so now what). But it could be worse, I could be a Facebook investor!
But I digress. Last week I asked my students to think about the ideological underpinnings of the notion of progress, which is typically presented as a natural and necessary aspect of human nature. Like the Manifest Destiny, for our souls! In order to facilitate this conversation, we read Kirkpatrick Sale’s “Five Facets of a Myth” as well as selections from Robert Nisbit’s History of the Idea of Progress. Both authors acknowledge that the idea of progress is historically contingent –i.e. it didn’t just appear fully-formed out of nowhere, the concept was naturalized over time, because of white people– but each approaches the topic from a decidedly different angle. The cartoon breakdown is that Nisbet gives progress a qualified thumbs up, while Sale smashes a personal computer in front of a live studio audience.
This week, we’ll be talking about the inadvertent (and very much intentional) social and political implications of progress — the dark side of progress, if yous will. It is going to be depressing!
