If you've ever wondered what exactly gerrymandering is, well now there's an app for that. What on the surface seems a complicated concept that might be hard to get your head around - rigging electoral boundaries so that you can win more seats despite not having a majority in the overall population, is made simple and clear with the delightful little puzzle game ' Gerrymander: Rig the Election '. Despite some issues with point systems and level progression (it's too easy to get stuck later on having to repeat levels over and over to earn enough points to unlock the next one), it's fun and addictive, tongue-in-cheek puzzler which serves to show just how easy our political systems can me manipulated. Definitely worth spending a few minutes of your time on, while standing in line to cast a vote.  

I gave in, I succumbed to The Marvelous Mrs Maisel ! For many years my mother and sister have been imploring me to The Gilmore Girls. While they weren't the only to recommend it to me, they were my main beseechers, and while I never denied that what I had seen of it seemed to be well written with endearing characters, I just never found the time. 'There is too much other good TV I need to watch first' and 'I'll watch it one day when I retire' (along with learning to play a MMORPG) were among my favourite excuses. The 1950s period setting for the series, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel  intrigued me (Mad Men still has a lot to answer for), and when I realised it was from Amy Sherman-Palladino , the creator of Gilmore Girls , I knew I'd found an out to my Gilmore Girls shaming. Just eight episodes, released all at once on Amazon Prime would be easy to finish off. Little did I know just how easy it would be to consume. The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is a delightful con...

I've sat through far to many hours of silly Marvel shows on Netflix, and it's all basically because of Jessica Jones. The first season was so adeptly executed, the story, the pacing, the characters, the performances, that it's glow managed to rub off on all those other Marvel shows. It didn't need the city/world on the verge of ending to create compelling tension, David Tennant's unsettling villain, with her intimate agenda, up against Krysten Ritter's bruised determination as Jones was more than enough. She was the only good thing about the boring Defenders series, so it's time to get excited again about having a whole story all about her again. If only it was a big screen movie.  

I have a confession to make, I'm very behind in my Nightvale episodes. The cult hit just keeps rolling along, and I find myself completely out of the loop. I long for the dulcet tones of Cecil Baldwin, as the host of the community radio program ' Welcome to Nightvale ', to be immersed again in that dusty, Lovecraftian, twilight space but life keeps getting in the way (ok, Youtube Let's Play videos). I realised I've only listened to about 30 or so of the over 100 episodes now aired, and I can't remember at all what was going on the delightfully peripatetic story. Thank the unseen gods who shall not be named that the internet specialises in fostering compulsive obsessions, so of course I've found the WTNV fan wiki , which has a helpful break-down of all the salient and surreal plot points of the all the episodes. I've done Welcome to Nightvale an injustice by not keeping up, as it's the sort of unique, outside the box storytelling that I'm ...

I caught a screening of Jim Jarmusch's 2016 Paterson  recently, and was struck by my innate fear of what would unfold. While watching, I noticed a constant tension in myself, unconsciously wondering 'when is the horrible, dramatic thing going to happen? Will it be now? Now?' I had to make the mental effort to push those feelings aside, and tell myself, maybe nothing like that will happen at all (which was the case). There are so few films, or at least so few that I've exposed myself to, which don't have some moment of violence or extreme emotional distress for their characters, that seems inevitable it will happen, even in the most benign films. Perhaps it is Adam Driver, who although giving a wonderfully understated performance as a considerate, thoughtful and kind man, nonetheless carries the baggage of so many performances as troubled and angry characters. I don't think I can put my tension down to simply casting though. How curious that I've become con...

Nostalgia is a powerful force, and when I first listened to M83's 2008 song 'Kim + Jessie' I immediately fell under its spell. It captured and condensed a nostalgic 80s aesthetic that seemed almost more authentic than music from the actual 80s might (In the way I guess only hindsight allows). When their 2011 album ' Hurry Up, We're Dreaming ' came out, I was again entranced by that poignantly nostalgic 80s feel, while simultaneously inspired by their trilogy of video clips they produced with it, rife with a lost 80s dark imagination. Clearly inspired the breakthrough anime 'Akira' (1988), one of my favourite films, the videos and music remain some of my all time favourites, and I never fail to be instantly transported to a lost, sad, yet fantastical world whenever I hear those opening synths of Midnight City .

I've just finished reading the third book in N.K. Jemisin's amazing Broken Earth trilogy ('The Fifth Season', 'The Obelisk Gate' & 'The Stone Sky'), and what more praise  can  I heap on the books  that  hasn't already been said . How thrilling and compelling it was to delve into a fantasy world so unlike the usual shtick, experienced through the eyes of complex characters of the sort rarely given much of a voice in fantasy tales. I loved the 'orogenic' powers to move the earth itself, the upending of the racial paradigm we know, the very human insights into slavery, subjugation and exploitation, the complement of complex queer characters central to the plot (especially the gay male character so driven by the love for his children and the heartbreak of losing them), the inspiring emotional strength of the women at the centre of the story and the dark, vivid and detailed world Jemisin created for it all. The books are undoubtedly all the ...

Why aren't you watching the NBC comedy 'The Good Place'? Don't you have friends who care enough to tell you about great shows on TV? Are you some sort of contrarian curmudgeon? In case you're wondering, it stars Ted Danson and Kristen Bell, the later of whom wakes up at the start of the series to find that she has died and is in 'the good place'. It's quickly revealed that there has been a clerical error, that she's there by mistake, and that she is actually a terrible person, and as such begins to cause terrible consequences for the perfect balance there. It's a great setup, but the writers do so much more with the premise than expected. Although ostensibly a sitcom, it borrows from modern box-set trend of having an overarching story and extended character development that you can't just drop down into the middle of (you'll need to start at the beginning), but it never feels leaden with plot. Mixing in a superb cast of supporting ...

What a surprising delight Brigsby Bear was. This 2017 creation of SNL alum Kyle Mooney, while fitting neatly into the quirky/indy mold, pulls at the heart-strings in unexpected ways. Without spoiling too much, it centres around the character of James, who has spent his entire life locked away from the world with nothing but the cheesy TV show 'Brigsby Bear' to keep him company. When he eventually emerges into the real world, all he want's is to see the next episode of his beloved show, and if one doesn't exist, perhaps he'll have to make it himself. This emotion comes from the characters around him, working out how to relate to James as he tries to fit back into the real world. There are some great performances from the whole supporting cast, including Greg Kinnear and Mark Hamill (which will be overshadowed by his role in Star Wars episode 8 this year). Ultimately, the film is something of an ode to the creative drive, and will leave you feeling inspired to follow ...

You should be listening to the 'My Favourite Murder' podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. The format is simple - each episode they each bring a story of real life murder they have researched and tell it to each other, without the other knowing in advance what it will be. The murders could be from any era and any place, whether it was a century ago on another continent, or a month ago down the road. The MFM podcast has grown into a cult hit, that has enabled the hosts to do sell out world tours of a live version of that basic format, and it's not difficult to see why such an enthusiastic community has grown up around it. 'My Favourite Murder' is a great example of the unique way that the contemporary podcast medium works best. Certainly a podcast needs an interesting topic or information to reveal, and just like radio, even with a good subject, it still comes down to personality, personality, personality of the hosts. Yet unlike radio, you ...

It seems all the online commenters are in agreement that the unanimous consensus online is that True Detective season two sucked. But was it really that bad? There has been a lot of great insight in the recaps and reviews I’ve been reading as the series progressed ( Vulture , Salon , The Atlantic , all the good ones), but I wonder if perhaps the disappointment from the second series stemmed in large part because expectations were so high. For example, season one of True Detective was criticised for being almost exclusively male focussed, with no substantial female characters. Season two seemed to take that criticism on board fully, and address it head it, giving us a compelling female protagonist, and variety of other women, with complex motivations, relevant to the plot. Yes, there are still things that could have been better in that respect, (there always are) but that was a huge step forward, and it’s not common for shows to so overtly attempt to address criticism directed at the...

Oh Google, could you do me a little favour please? I know you have a lot on your plate, what with Google Plus and whatever company your probably planning on buying next, but I really think it would be worth your while. You see, I’m a fan of Android, I like that adults are allowed to use it, as opposed to the mollycoddling iOS, but there is an area it falls short on, and that’s music. You’ve been making all the right gestures, but unusually Google, you just don’t seem to be thinking in the right direction. People have ranted before about how poor the standard Android music player is, and clearly you’ve listened. It really is quite pretty now (even if it does still occasionally just stop playing mid song), and functions pretty smoothly and intuitively. The big problem is, which you don’t seem to have noticed, is that I don’t want to just listen to music on my phone, I want to listen to it on my pc too – and that’s where Apple resoundingly trumps you. It might be a lot easier to create ...

HP Lovecraft has been on my 'to read' list for sometime, but it was only recently I picked up the lovely penguin paperback edition of the short story collection 'The Dunwich Horror' while browsing in Waterstones. The book is conducive to being read, and I quickly worked my way through the first story on a bus trip to Wales, the scenery of which perfectly mimicking the tale. It was a pleasure to find a story written in 1928 so enthralling and atmospheric in a distinctly contemporary way, and a delight to realise that the praise heaped on Lovecraft from various horror writers (there's a quote on the cover from Stephen King) is thoroughly justified. The modern sensibility of the horror is no doubt a reflection of the massive influence his stories have had on modern horror and fantasy. It's quite palpable. Lovecraft is clearly writing at a time in the early 20thC when modern science as we understand it was coming to the fore, yet there still lingered a residual ...

I've been having fun with Google plus this last week, while getting my head around the hybrid Facebook/Twitter structure of it. I found a great post by John Tropea on the differences between Google+ and Facebook/Twitter , and he sums up my initial confusion on how sharing with circles works. Essentially, when you post something to a circle, that whole circle won't see it in their stream unless they are all following you back, which is necessarily the case. I agree with John that this isn't very intuitive. So, @Google, here's my simple suggestion to make it a little more intuitive: the little grey circle graphic next to each of your circles could represent what percentage of that circle follow you back - like a little circle graph. So if only half the people in one of your given circles follows you back then, then the circle outline is half red, half green (or some other colours), if 90% follow you back, then 90% of the little circle would look green, while a little 10...

Listening to an Economist podcast recently, I was interested to learn how China has been trying to develop its soft power on the international stage. They have been trying to promote Confuscianism, and values of hierarchy and authority. Basically, 'wow, look how good authoritarianism is!' and there definitely are some benefits - the govt can make quick and sweeping decisions in response to large problems, such as the gfc and the environment according to the Economist. It strikes me that when authoritarianism and popular consent (through democracy) are juxtaposed in the context of govt achievements, the former is better at getting things done, while the later is better at accountability, ie ensuring the right problems are addressed, in the right way, and that they are actually completed and successfully. The reason China can interact successfully with countries that are supposedly diametrically opposed to their fundamental values, is that liberal democracies act as authoritarian...

It was quite exciting to see the US federal court strike down Prop 8 the other day, even if that does feel a little premature given that it was going to be appealed to the Supreme Court and that could take a few years. What made it so exciting though was how emphatically Judge Walker struck down the ban, in his 138 page ruling - calling out all the nonsense spouted by the anti-gay marriage brigade. What infuriates me is the level of response in the media from the loosing side. I want to scream every time I see another idiot claim that the will of 'seven million Californians' was ignored, it's the end of democracy, blah blah blah. Of course it was ignored, that was will was prejudiced and bigoted. Do people not understand why we set up political systems that protect all people's rights, and that we don't subject the rights of a minority to a popular vote. That is one of the reason the federal and supreme courts exist - I know this and I'm not even American. It ...

I was pleased to see Katrin Bennhold's ' Feminism of the Future Relies on Men ' in the NY times, and I continue to be surprised the point of view she put forward isn't more common, as it has seemed damn obvious to me for sometime. It seems commonly acknowledged that previous feminist movements 'pushed women into the world of men' (as stated in the piece), which would seem to imply the logical question 'Where do the men go?'. If feminism has failed in achieving the equality it had hoped for, it is surely because it made the men's world very crowded, and didn't give the men there anywhere else to go. In her booked 'Stiffed', which I must admit I never finished reading, Susan Faludi interrogated the 'crisis' in modern masculinity, which is surely a result of the lack of progress in redefining the role of men in a society in the wake of attempts to redefine the role of women. While for the mainstream of many liberal-democratic socie...

[Inspired by long political debates in online forums] Sometimes we want something, but to get it we have to endorse a group that does something bad. Like persecute a minority, one that you might even be part of. Say for example you want to vote Tory because it benefits you in some way, but you’re gay, and they have tendency to wish gays didn’t exist. Fear not! All you need to do is convince yourself you’re right, and that conscience will just have to shut up. There are tried and true methods for this, passed down through the ages to excuse all sorts of atrocities, and they are so simple anyone can use them! Even you! Step 1 – MINIMISE what it is that your conscience objects to. For hundreds of years people have justified doing bad things by minimising their assessment of its impact or meaning. You don’t even want to do something bad, you just want to ignore something bad someone else did, so it’s even easier! Just take the awful thing that was done (such as passing homophobic...

I've never really liked Rufus Wainwright much. I know he is one of the celebrity darlings of the gay community because he is so out, but I've always found him a bit of a twat. That opinion was only helped by his rather stupid opinion that gays don't need marriage , or at least he doesn't want one, so you can go marry your dog for all he cares. I'm always a bit flabbergasted when out celebrities claim they are against gay marriage, like Karl Lagerfeld . Do they really mean it, or are they only saying it for the attention, to be perceived as edgy and rebellious? Either way it stinks. You can be an anti-bourgeoisie, heteronormative capitalist system disrupting rebel gay if you want, but don't try to force you're way of being gay on others by removing their choices, or you're just as bad as the christian right. Now Rufus has changed his mind and decided that he does want to get married after all, so suddenly he thinks that the bans on it are unfair. How u...

Ah, what LOLZ. So glad that I follow @mariekehardy on Twitter, that's how I stumbled upon the conversation between her and @MyfWarhurst discussing the disturbing but enthralling Chatroulette. Basically it's a random webcam chat program - you login in are and randomly connected to someone else somewhere in the world, usually via webcam. If you get bored, just click next and go to the next person. It has already sprung up an amusing blog called ChatrouletteLOLZ . The speed with which an internet meme takes off is amazing. In this case I think it's due to the simplicity of the concept, although perhaps that is always the case. While it is still just an interesting gimmick at this stage, I'll be interested to see what uses people come up with for Chatroulette... it's never what you expect. I guess if nothing useful emerges from it, then it will likely die pretty quickly after the gimmick wears off. I wonder how long it will last....