I went to see the Eclipse Theatre’s production of Blue Surge, a play by Rebecca Gilman, with only foggiest notion of what it was about.  Cops, prostitutes, a massage parlor bust.  Based on this scant information, I expected some sort of a noir crime drama.  I imaged that the Blue Surge of the title referred to an Iraq War style surge by the boys in ( Read more... )

I just finished reading a really interesting book, Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence by Gerard Jones.  It looks at the positive role fantasies of violence, conflict and destruction can play in children’s development.  While many critics of violent television, comic books and video games say they ( Read more... )