Single Indian Tear - Remastered Catalog Now Online!

I post here a decent amount about my fun band from 2008-2010, Single Indian Tear.  Well now, thanks to my awesome partner in crime Craig Eley, you can buy both of our albums on Bandcamp.  Better yet, they've been remastered by Iowa City's awesome Sam Knutson.  Get caught up, because we're hoping to have our whole Tenebre project (including remixed visuals) available soon.

Enjoy!

http://singleindiantear.bandcamp.com/

Re-Presenting: How I Invented Witch House (and Ghostface) . . . Full Version

Up until they take it down, here is the first half of the film edit and re-scoring I did in collaboration with Craig Eley back when we were in grad school together.  It predates much of the stuff that came in around 2010/2011 inspired by Italian horror movies . . . and now Ghostface Killah's 12 Reasons to Die.  Not that we were anywhere near that polished, but I'm still really proud of this.

I've been waiting to bring it to you . . . Scouts of the Pyre, Part 2, now live!

 Oh my many dears . . . it has been a LONG time coming, but Steampunk Magazine issue 9 is now live, and features part 2 of my campy pulp serial "The Scouts of the Pyre."  It's a lovely story about the struggle of the Union army about a horde of zombie slaves . . . enjoy, for free, in the online version, or order a beautiful hard copy!

http://www.steampunkmagazine.com/

Why Rational People Buy Into (read: create) Conspiracy Theories

I haven't talked about it much here, but I spent last semester teaching the first edition of a class on the theme of distrust in communication, about half of which dealt with conspiracy theory.  One of the biggest misperceptions about conspiracy theory (including in some scholarly literature) is that it's the realm of deluded idiots.  In fact, it's more accurate to say conspiracy theory appeals mostly to people with a moderately sophisticated skepticism, but without either the training in citation and information management to find reliable alternative sources, or perhaps even without the basic faith that there is such a thing as 'the truth.'

The New York Times explores these issues in a new blog post from Maggie Koerth-Baker.  The comments section is well worth scanning - not a single one of the first dozen responses comes down on the side of information-based rationalism.  They all defend conspiracism as somehow a positive model for 'questions that need to be asked.'  Or they say that left-wing conspiracism are okay, it's right-wing conspiracies that are harming democracy.  It's really mind-boggling and scary that this is the audience for the New York Times.

The Mysterious Rap Group Behind Korean Solidarity Demos in Japan

My pal Brent Fujioka recently sent me a hot tip.  There are currently significant anti-racist demonstrations being held in Tokyo to oppose the so-called Zaitokukai, an anti-Korean hate group.  Information about the demonstrations can be found here and here.  The group claiming affiliation with the demos is calling itself "Shit Back Crew," and there's little or no information on them here at their tumblr:

http://shitback.tumblr.com/about

It's strange that they feel compelled to cover their faces, but otherwise this is really encouraging and interesting.  Anyone who has further information, it would be appreciated.