G.R. Linden's Blog, page 13

World Building 101: Economics

As writers of fiction, we all have a particular part of our imagination we like to indulge the most. For some of us, that means spending hours on end crafting a sophisticated socio-political hierarchy for our new world. For others, it’s about creating wondrous mythical beasts or monstrous creatures born from a nightmare realm. While still others revel in inventing new types of technology or systems of magic. Very few writers get into the world building game because they love exploring the wha...

How Have You Not Seen That?- The Lion King

It’s not often you get an animated adaptation of Hamlet, let alone one that features talking animals on the plains of Africa. But with 1994’s The Lion King, Disney did exactly that and in the process made one of their best films ever. Obviously, The Lion King is not a straight-up adaptation of Shakespeare’s legendary (but not quite family-friendly) tragedy but the film certainly owes most of its characters and its basic plot structure to the Bard’s melancholy prince. When the greatest playwri...

Troping the Riff- Groundhog Day

Haven’t you ever had a day go so horribly you wish you could just get a mulligan? A do-over. A chance to go back in time and correct whatever mistakes you made and get the day right. Well if you have then you are in luck because this edition of Troping the Riff is for you. Today we’re going to talk about one of the most standard plot tropes out there, you are about to experience a Groundhog Day. (and I don’t mean the holiday.)
This is one of those rare tropes that actually gets its name from...

The Franchise-Predator

Today marks the release of The Predator, yet another attempt at rebooting the Predator film franchise. After the critical and commercial failures that were AVP: Requiem and Predators this is a franchise that is in desperate need of a win. And while I have found the trailers for this reboot rather unimpressive am still holding out hope since it features Olivia Munn who I’ve had a crush on since her Sloan Sabbath days and Friend of the Blog Keegan Michael Key (by Friend of the Blog I mean that...

Science! For Parties- Non-Newtonian Dance Party

Have you ever been to a party where it seems like everyone is waiting for someone else to be the first one on the dance floor? It’s a bummer, right? Well with a little bit of preparation you can make sure that the next party you host comes with guests ready made to boogie down. Science! For Parties presents Non-Newtonian Dance Party!
Now, this is the rare science party trick that I recommend only doing at your own party as it can make an unknowing host a little nervous. First, you’ll need to...

Mind Blown- Time Part 2

In the first part of this post I blew your mind with the nature of time itself, well I hope you were able to piece it back together because in our dramatic conclusion I’m going to wrinkle your brain all over again with a breakdown of the real question you want answered: Is it possible to travel through time? So hop in your DeLoreans and buckle your seat-belts because it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for since next week: Mind Blown-Time Part 2 (Back to the Blog Post).
Time Travel has been t...

On the Shelf- All the Sad, Young, Literary Men

For this edition of On the Shelf I decided to go to a book that has literally sat on my shelf for a few years without having been read: Keith Giessen’s All the Sad, Young, Literary Men. I picked it up on a whim because the title intrigued me (it’s an F. Scott Fitzgerald reference) and it’s possible I never started it because I was afraid the title described me. But in the end, my belief that no book on my shelf should ever go unread won out and I decided to make a concerted effort to finish t...

The Silver Bullet – Curriculum 11

Eleventh Grade: The penultimate year of education. Students are now taking leadership roles around campus and controlling more of their own educational decisions. This is the best time to teach the lessons that will shape them for the years to come.

Math: Trigonometry

Science: Chemistry

Computer Science: App Design

History/Social Science: U.S. History

Human Studies: Psychology

English: American Literature

Foreign Languages: Mandarin, Hindi, or Arabic 1

Music: Music Theory

Art: Art History...

In Theory: Student-Athletes

It’s that time of year again, summer is coming to a close and the smell of pigskin is in the air. School is back in session and a certain select group of young men and women will be forced to balance the commitment of playing Division-1 athletics with the pressure of pursuing a four-year degree. One of the most unassailable ideas in all of sports is the nobility of the student-athlete and the absolute necessity of maintaining the spirit of amateurism in colligate athletics. But with literally...

Troping the Riff- The Ancient Menace

The signs are all there. Time the prophecies warned us about is coming. Darkness comes and the end of all things is at hand. It has returned. The ancient enemy. Or at least that’s what they tell me. Because in today’s Troping the Riff we tackle perhaps the oldest trope in storytelling: The Ancient Menace.
The Ancient Menace is a storytelling trope that dates back as far as the earliest mythologies. It is an evil that was present either before or at the creation of the world or at least before...