Recommended daily reading – 18 January

An eclectic list of items from my feeds:

At OregonLive, Shawn Levy covers the Portland premiere of IFC’s Portlandia, which airs this Friday on the channel.

Meanwhile, via Publisher’s Weekly on Twitter, is news of India’s first comic convention.

From Spacing Magazine on Twitter is a pointer to a study that suggests that bicycling infrastructure contributes more to economic development than does similar building for cars.

Another Twitter link, this one to Foreign Policy from ed bice (via ProgGrrl), and to an article by Marc Lynch taking an early look at social media and the current political situation in Tunisia. As a high school student I worked on an Amnesty International campaign to free a political prisoner in Tunisia, an individual who was eventually released, which does not happen most of the time. So, I have a slight personal connection to issues of freedom and democracy in that country that has raised my interest in what’s happening now.

Finally, Torontoist has this neat work of graffiti.

2010 contributions to PopMatters

PopMatters is on its annual publishing break, so here is a compilation of my contributions from the year:

DVD reviews:

Metropia (2009), 17 November, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/133436-metropia/

Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect (2007), 22 September, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/131069-rem-koolhaas-a-kind-of-architect/

A Town Called Panic (2009), 19 July, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/128344-a-town-called-panic/

Uncertainty (2009), 1 June, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/126249-uncertainty

Arizona Dream (1993), 30 April, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/124507-arizona-dream-warner-archive-collection

Blood Ties: The Complete Series (2007), 23 April, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/124137-blood-ties-the-complete-series

Examined Life (2008), 26 February, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/120778-examined-life/

Sita Sings the Blues (2009), 11 January, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/118090-sita-sings-the-blues/

“Worlds in Panels”:

“A case for comics in College”, 3 February, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/119402-teaching-with-comics/

“Creator: various”, 10 March, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/120569-comics-authorship-reaching-the-limits-of-singular-genius/

“Egads! Comics! In the library!”, 7 April 2010, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/123371-my-ten-year-old-is-reading-what-the-meaning-of-the-comics-section-at/

“Comics: it’s such a big small world”, 6 May 2010, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/124633-between-big-and-small-what-conventions-tell-us-about-american-comics/

“Freeze frame: how best to capture film in a comic book?”, 8 June, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/126368-the-art-of-making-moving-images-still/

“Almost lifelike: drawing out reality in comics art”, 26 July, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/127397-comics-art-referencing-the-real-drawing-out-reality/

“The danger of ‘Girl Comics'”, 16 August, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/128969-thinking-beyond-this-years-women-of-marvel/

“‘Scott Pilgrim’ and what movies means to comics”, 30 August, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/130258-scott-pilgrim-and-what-movies-mean-to-comics/

“Strange tales and mainstreams: when all superheroes are uncanny”, 5 October 2010, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/131215-strange-tales-and-mainstreams/

“From pin-ups to ass-kickers: girls in comics go through transitions”, 16 November, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/132715-comics-gender-gap/

“The year in review: the best comics of 2010”, 14 December, http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/134160-the-most-interesting-comics-i-read-in-2010-trade-paperback-edition/