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The Future of the Nineteenth-Century Dream-Child: Fantasy, Dystopia, Cyberculture (Children's Literature and Culture)
by Amy BilloneThis book investigates the reappearance of the 19th-century dream-child from the Golden Age of Children's Literature, both in the Harry Potter series and in other works that have reached unprecedented levels of popular success today. Discussing Harry Potter as a reincarnation of Lewis Carroll's Alice and J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Billone goes on to examine the recent resurrection of Alice in Tim Burton's Alice, and of Peter Pan in Michael Jackson and in James Bond. Visiting trends that have emerged since the Harry Potter series ended, the book studies revisions of the dream-child in texts and films that have inspired mass fandom in the twenty-first century: Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, E.L. James's 50 Shades of Grey and Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games. The volume argues that the 21st-century desire to achieve dream-states in relationship to eternal youth results from the way that dreams provide a means of realizing the fantastic yet alarming possibility of escaping from time. This current identification with the dream-child stems from the threat of political unrest and economic and environmental collapse as well as from the simultaneous technophilia and technophobia of a culture immersed in the breathless revolution of the digital age. This book not only explores how the dream-child from the past has returned to reflect misgivings about imagined dystopian futures but also reveals how the rebirth of the dream-child opens up possibilities for new narratives where happy endings remain viable against all odds. It will appeal to scholars in a wide variety of fields including Childhood Studies, Children's/YA Literature, Cinema Studies, Cultural Studies, Cyberculture, Gender Studies, Queer Studies, Gothic Studies, New Media, and Popular Culture.
The Future of Television in the Global South: Reflections from Selected Countries
by George OgolaThis book explores how television in the global South is ‘future-proofing’ its continued relevance, addressing its commercial, social and political viability in a constantly changing information ecosystem. The chapter contributions in the book are drawn from countries in East, South and West Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, specially selected for their illustrative potential of the key issues addressed in the book. Scholarly attention on television in the global South has largely been limited to studying evolving television formats with broader structural issues covered almost entirely by industry reports. Major gaps remain in terms of understanding how television in the global South is changing within the context of the significant technological developments and what this means for television’s future(s). The chapters reflect on these futures, not in the sense of predicting what these might be, but rather anticipating important areas of intellection. The contributors contend that much of the scholarship on the global South, by scholars from the South, is often stilted by a reluctance to anticipate. This failure leads to a largely reactionary scholarship, constantly oppositional, and unable to recentre conversations on the South. This volume finds intellectual incentive in this urgent need to anticipate, hence its particular focus on television futures. Taking television in the global South as an important cultural and political barometer, the book seeks to explore how television in the global South is adapting to the rampant technological changes and processes of globalisation.
The Future of Ritual: Writings on Culture and Performance
by Richard SchechnerIn The Future of Ritual, Richard Schechner explores the nature of ritualised behaviour and its relationship to performance and politics. A brilliant and uncontainable examination of cultural expression and communal action, The Future of Ritual asks pertinent questions about art, theatre and the changing meaning of 'culture' in today's intercultural world. An exciting new work by the author of Performance Theory.
The Future of Music: Towards a Computational Musical Theory of Everything
by Guerino Mazzola Yan Pang Jason Noer Shuhui Yao Jay Afrisando Christopher Rochester William NeaceThe idea of this monograph is to present an overview of decisive theoretical, computational, technological, aesthetical, artistic, economical, and sociological directions to create future music. It features a unique insight into dominant scientific and artistic new directions, which are guaranteed by the authors' prominent publications in books, software, musical, and dance productions.Applying recent research results from mathematical and computational music theory and software as well as new ideas of embodiment approaches and non-Western music cultures, this book presents new composition methods and technologies. Mathematical, computational, and semiotic models of artistic presence (imaginary time, gestural creativity) as well as strategies are also covered.This book will be of interest to composers, music technicians, and organizers in the internet-based music industry, who are offered concrete conceptual architectures and tools for their future strategies in musical creativity and production.
The Future of Entertainment: From Movies to Virtual Reality (What the Future Holds)
by M. M. EbochFrom stage productions to television to movies, humans have always been entertained by a good story. But how might entertainment change in the future? From immersive virtual reality games to social media with 3-D holograms, readers can find out what cool new technologies might change the way they are entertained.
The Future of Digital Communication: The Metaverse
by Raquel V. Benítez RojasThis collection of essays explores the present and future of digital communication through a range of interdisciplinary approaches, all of which focus on the so-called metaverse. The metaverse is a combination of multiple elements of technology – including virtual reality, augmented reality, and video – where users "live" within a digital universe. The vision for this new universe is that its users can work, play, and stay connected with friends through everything. Such a vision is hinted at in existing phenomena such as online game universes.
The Future of Audiences: A Foresight Analysis Of Interfaces And Engagement
by Ranjana Das Brita Ytre-ArneThis book brings together contributions from scholars across Europe to present findings from a foresight analysis exercise on audiences and audience analysis, looking towards an increasingly datafied world and anticipating the ubiquity of the internet of things. The book uses knowledge emerging out of three foresight exercises, produced in co-operation with more than 50 stake-holding organisations and building on systematic reviews of audience research. It works through these exercises to arrive at a renewed agenda for audience studies within communication scholarship in the context of intrusive and connected interfaces and emerging communicative practices.
Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
by Paul M. SammonThe ultimate guide to Ridley Scott’s transformative sci-fi classic Blade RunnerRidley Scott’s 2007 “Final Cut” confirmed the international film cognoscenti’s judgment: Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick’s brilliant and troubling science fiction masterpiece Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, is among the most visually dense, thematically challenging, and influential science fiction films ever made. Future Noir Revised & Updated Edition offers a deeper understanding of this cinematic phenomenon that is storytelling and visual filmmaking at its best.In this intensive, intimate, and anything-but-glamorous behind-the-scenes account, film insider and cinephile Paul M. Sammon explores how Ridley Scott purposefully used his creative genius to transform the work of science fiction’s most uncompromising author into a critical sensation and cult classic that would reinvent the genre. Sammon reveals how the making of the original Blade Runner was a seven-year odyssey that would test the stamina and the imagination of writers, producers, special effects wizards, and the most innovative art directors and set designers in the industry at the time it was made. This revised and expanded edition of Future Noir includes:An overview of Blade Runner’s impact on moviemaking and its acknowledged significance in popular culture since the book’s original 1996 publicationAn exploration of the history of Blade Runner: The Final Cut and its theatrical release in 2007A look at its long-awaited sequel, Blade Runner 2049The longest interview Harrison Ford has ever granted about Blade RunnerExclusive new interviews with Rutger Hauer and Sean YoungA fascinating look at the ever-shifting interface between commerce and art, illustrated with production photos and stills, Future Noir provides an eye-opening and enduring look at modern moviemaking, the business of Hollywood, and one of the greatest films of all time.
The Future as Catastrophe: Imagining Disaster in the Modern Age
by Eva HornWhy do we have the constant feeling that disaster is looming? Beyond the images of atomic apocalypse that have haunted us for decades, we are dazzled now by an array of possible catastrophe scenarios: climate change, financial crises, environmental disasters, technological meltdowns—perennial subjects of literature, film, popular culture, and political debate. Is this preoccupation with catastrophe questionable alarmism or complacent passivity? Or are there certain truths that can be revealed only in apocalypse?In The Future as Catastrophe, Eva Horn offers a novel critique of the modern fascination with disaster, which she treats as a symptom of our relationship to the future. Analyzing the catastrophic imaginary from its cultural and historical roots in Romanticism and the figure of the Last Man, through the narratives of climatic cataclysm and the Cold War’s apocalyptic sublime, to the contemporary popularity of disaster fiction and end-of-the-world blockbusters, Horn argues that apocalypse always haunts the modern idea of a future that can be anticipated and planned. Considering works by Lord Byron, J. G. Ballard, and Cormac McCarthy and films such as 12 Monkeys and Minority Report alongside scientific scenarios and political metaphors, she analyzes catastrophic thought experiments and the question of survival, the choices legitimized by imagined states of exception, and the contradictions inherent in preventative measures taken in the name of technical safety or political security. What makes today’s obsession different from previous epochs’ is the sense of a “catastrophe without event,” a stealthily creeping process of disintegration. Ultimately, Horn argues, imagined catastrophes offer us intellectual tools that can render a future shadowed with apocalyptic possibilities affectively, epistemologically, and politically accessible.
A Futile nd Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever
by Josh KarpThe ultimate biography of National Lampoon and its cofounder Doug Kenney, this book offers the first complete history of the immensely popular magazine and its brilliant and eccentric characters. With wonderful stories of the comedy scene in New York City in the 1970s and National Lampoon's place at the center of it, this chronicle shares how the magazine spawned a popular radio show and two long-running theatrical productions that helped launch the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Gilda Radner and went on to inspire Saturday Night Live. More than 130 interviews were conducted with people connected to Kenney and the magazine, including Chevy Chase, John Hughes, P. J. O'Rourke, Tony Hendra, Sean Kelly, Chris Miller, and Bruce McCall. These interviews and behind-the-scenes stories about the making of both Animal House and Caddyshack help to capture the nostalgia, humor, and popular culture that National Lampoon inspires.
Los fusileros
by Cristóbal PeñaLa tarde del domingo 7 de septiembre de 1986, en el Cajón del Maipo, un comando del Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez (FPMR) tendió una emboscada a la caravana que trasladaba al general Augusto Pinochet. La temeraria acción pasó a la historia y sus protagonistas - entre los que se contaban un escolar, un gásfiter, un bombero, un fisicoculturista, un cantautor, un ex seminarista de Schoenstatt y un estudiante de Cine y otro de Filosofía- cayeron en el olvido y corrieron suertes dispares. Narrada en clave de thriller político y policial, esta crónica acude al presente para reconstruir la historia de los veintiún fusileros que esa tarde de domingo desafiaron al régimen, convencidos de que no saldrían con vida.
Further Steps 2: Fourteen Choreographers on What's the R.A.G.E. in Modern Dance
by Constance KreemerFurther Steps 2 brings together New York’s foremost choreographers – among them MacArthur ‘Genius’ award winners Meredith Monk and Bill T. Jones – to discuss the past, present and future of dance in the US. In a series of exclusive and enlightening interviews, this diverse selection of artists discuss the changing roles of race, gender, politics, and the social environment on their work. Bringing her own experience of the New York dance scene to her study, Constance Kreemer traces the lives and works of the following choreographers: Lucinda Childs, Douglas Dunn, Molissa Fenley, Rennie Harris, Bill T. Jones, Kenneth King, Nancy Meehan, Meredith Monk, Rosalind Newman, Gus Solomons jr, Doug Varone, Dan Wagoner, Mel Wong and Jawole Zollar.
A Further Slice Of Johnners
by Brian JohnstonWhen Brian Johnston was a schoolboy, his reports were full of phrases such as 'talks too much in school' and 'apt to be a buffoon'. Later millions of radio listeners would be delighted to discover that some things never changed! Johnners brought his unique wit and personal charm to an enormous range of BBC radio and television programmes for nearly 50 years, from In Town Tonight and Down Your Way to Test Match Special. After Brian died in 1994, Christopher Martin-Jenkins wrote: 'It is hard to believe that anyone in the history of broadcasting has induced such widespread affection'. A Further Slice of Johnners covers Brian's early days, from his childhood in Hertfordshire and his schooldays at Eton and Oxford to his job in the family coffee business in the City and his service with the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War. There is also a selection of the most memorable characters and locations from his fifteen years on the Radio Four programme Down Your Way. Finally there is a collection of Brian's popular 'View From the Boundary' interviews on Test Match Special, including fascinating conversations with Eric Idle, John Major and Peter O'Toole.
The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl
by Belle de Jour''She lists like Hornby. She talks dirty like Amis. She has the misanthropy of Larkin and examines the finer points of sexual technique as she is adjusting the torque on a beloved but temperamental old E-type...It's hard to believe that this clever and candid new voice has no more to say. Whoever the author is, she should give up the day job. Only then will we find out what the real Belle de Jour is made of.' IndependentThis follow-up to the hugely successful 'Intimate Adventures' will be just as bold, funny and brilliant. Peppered with agony-aunt letters and advice, and stories from her 'working' life, it's also the story of a young woman making her way in the world - told in Belle's inimitable voice.
The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl
by Belle de Jour''She lists like Hornby. She talks dirty like Amis. She has the misanthropy of Larkin and examines the finer points of sexual technique as she is adjusting the torque on a beloved but temperamental old E-type...It's hard to believe that this clever and candid new voice has no more to say. Whoever the author is, she should give up the day job. Only then will we find out what the real Belle de Jour is made of.' IndependentThis follow-up to the hugely successful 'Intimate Adventures' will be just as bold, funny and brilliant. Peppered with agony-aunt letters and advice, and stories from her 'working' life, it's also the story of a young woman making her way in the world - told in Belle's inimitable voice.
Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star
by Rick WakemanWhat do Postman Pat, Tommy Cooper, Norman Wisdom and George Best have in common with being abandoned in a Costa Rican jungle after a severe bout of flatulence? Indeed, how are they also connected to trying to buy an Australian brewery just to get a beer, owning twenty-two cars, an American soccer team and a Swiss mail-order pornography company?The common feature is of course a certain Richard Wakeman.The Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star takes you, the privileged reader, on a trip of absurd excess, a cultural car crash of side-splitting hilarity and an unforgettable glimpse (again) into the life of one of Britain's most legendary showmen, rock stars and all-time great raconteurs.
Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him
by David Henry Joe Henry“Addictively readable . . . Someday, when fewer people know Richard Pryor’s name, Furious Cool will be the best defense against the worst sort of forgetting--the kind that involves who we are now, who we loved once, and why.” —EsquireRichard Pryor was arguably the single most influential performer of the second half of the twentieth century, and certainly he was the most successful black actor/comedian ever. Controversial and somewhat enigmatic during his life, Pryor’s performances opened up a whole new world of possibilities, merging fantasy with angry reality in a way that wasn’t just new--it was theretofore unthinkable. Now, this groundbreaking and revelatory work brings him to life again both as a man and as an artist, providing an in-depth appreciation of his talent and his lasting influence, as well as an insightful examination of the world he lived in and the myriad influences that shaped both his persona and his art. “A testament to [Pryor’s] stature not only as an African-American entertainment idol but also as an American icon . . . The Henrys’ exuberant tribute may well evoke renewed interest in a performance genius who remade the face of American stand-up comedy.” —The New York Times Book Review“A sleek, highly literate biography that places the comic in the pop-cultural context of his times.” —Bloomberg News“Richard Pryor was the most free black man of the twentieth century. He also was a comic genius. This book gives the definitive reasons why he was so free and so sublime.” —Dr. Cornel West“David Henry and Joe Henry have brought Richard Pryor back to pulsating life, affirming both his humanity and his immortality as a comic--and tragic--genius . . . Furious Cool is a fabulous history, alive with fascinating characters.” —The Huffington Post
Funnymen
by Ted HellerSIGMUND "ZIGGY" BLISSMAN isn't the best-looking, sanest boy in the world. Far, far from it. But this misfit child of a failed husband-and-wife vaudeville team has one (and only one) thing going for him: He can crack people up merely by batting his eyelashes. And Vittorio "Vic" Fontana, the son of a fisherman, is a fraud. Barely able to carry a tune or even stay awake while attempting to, the indolent baritone (if that's what he is) has one thing going for him: Women love to look at him. On their own, they're failures. But on one summer night in the Catskills, they step onstage and together become the funniest men -- and the hottest act -- in America. Funnymen is the wildly inventive story of Fountain and Bliss, the comedy duo that delighted America in the 1940s and '50s. Conceived as a fictional oral biography and filled with more than seventy memorable characters, Funnymen details the extraordinary careers of two men whose professional success is never matched in their personal lives. The two men fight constantly with their managers, their wives, their children, their mistresses, and those responsible for their success: each other. The stories recounted about Vic and Ziggy -- and the truths Heller reveals about human ambition, egotism, and friendship -- make Funnymen a wild ride of a novel that is also a rare and imaginative masterpiece of storytelling.
Funnybooks
by Michael BarrierFunnybooks is the story of the most popular American comic books of the 1940s and 1950s, those published under the Dell label. For a time, "Dell Comics Are Good Comics" was more than a slogan--it was a simple statement of fact. Many of the stories written and drawn by people like Carl Barks (Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge), John Stanley (Little Lulu), and Walt Kelly (Pogo) repay reading and rereading by educated adults even today, decades after they were published as disposable entertainment for children. Such triumphs were improbable, to say the least, because midcentury comics were so widely dismissed as trash by angry parents, indignant librarians, and even many of the people who published them. It was all but miraculous that a few great cartoonists were able to look past that nearly universal scorn and grasp the artistic potential of their medium. With clarity and enthusiasm, Barrier explains what made the best stories in the Dell comic books so special. He deftly turns a complex and detailed history into an expressive narrative sure to appeal to an audience beyond scholars and historians.
Funny You Should Say That
by Gerry DeeOne of Canada’s top comedians shares the funniest stories from his life and career in this collection of hilarious essaysFor more than two decades, Gerry Dee has made audiences laugh, first as a hard-working stand-up comedian, and then as the star of his own CBC television program, Mr. D. Dee became a physical education teacher, thinking he would have it made: coaching, summers off and a good pension. But he found himself dreaming of a career in comedy, until one day, years later, he turned in his teaching certificate and picked up a microphone. He went on to become one of Canada’s top comics. In his new book of essays, Dee writes about his life—being a kid in suburban Toronto, becoming a father, starring in his own TV show, going on the road to comedy clubs across Canada and the US. He takes us behind the scenes of Last Comic Standing, Mr. D and everywhere in between. There was the time he set up his own DVD-signing appearances, only to have no one show up. Or the time he was flown to the Bahamas, where he performed for drunken fishermen and their “nieces.” And he shares his lifelong affliction with hypochondria and all the medical conditions he doesn’t have. This is Gerry Dee at his comedic finest.
Funny, You Don't Look Funny: Judaism and Humor from the Silent Generation to Millennials
by Jennifer CaplanIn this comprehensive approach to Jewish humor focused on the relationship between humor and American Jewish practice, Jennifer Caplan calls us to adopt a more expansive view of what it means to "do Jewish," revealing that American Jews have, and continue to, turn to humor as a cultural touchstone. Caplan frames the book around four generations of Jewish Americans from the Silent Generation to Millennials, highlighting a shift from the utilization of Jewish-specific markers to American-specific markers. Jewish humor operates as a system of meaning-making for many Jewish Americans. By mapping humor onto both the generational identity of those making it and the use of Judaism within it, new insights about the development of American Judaism emerge. Caplan’s explication is innovative and insightful, engaging with scholarly discourse across Jewish studies and Jewish American history; it includes the work of Joseph Heller, Larry David, Woody Allen, Seinfeld, the Coen brothers films, and Broad City. This example of well-informed scholarship begins with an explanation of what makes Jewish humor Jewish and why Jewish humor is such a visible phenomenon. Offering ample evidence and examples along the way, Caplan guides readers through a series of phenomenological and ideological changes across generations, concluding with commentary regarding the potential influences on Jewish humor of later Millennials, Gen Z, and beyond.
A Funny Time to Be Gay
by Ed KarvoskiIn A Funny Time to Be Gay, Ed Karvoski Jr. traces the evolution of gay and lesbian comedy from the few pioneers in New York's Greenwich Village in the seventies, to the mavericks who played San Francisco's famed Valencia Rose in the eighties, to the comics who starred in their own TV specials in the nineties and continue to headline comedy clubs. Among the more than 30 humorists spotlighted... · TOM AMMIANO - longtime San Francisco elected official · JUDY CARTER - three-time author including The Homo Handbook· KATE CLINTON - three-time author including Don't Get Me Started · SABRINA MATTHEWS - star of own Comedy Central special· BOB SMITH - three-time author including Openly Bob and star of own HBO special· JASON STUART - frequent TV guest appearances · ROBIN TYLER - performer, producer and proprietor of a women's cruise line· SUZANNE WESTENHOEFER - star of own HBO special · DANNY WILLIAMS - longtime MC at RSVP Cruises ... and more! "To the next generation of showbiz hopefuls who are gay or lesbian and choose not to hide it: make a grand entrance onto the comedy-club stages and television and film studios. The closet door has been set ajar. As any of these openly gay and lesbians comics will tell you, 'A funny thing happened on the way out of the closet!'"-- Ed Karvoski Jr., from author's introduction
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned
by Michael J. FoxMichael J. Fox abandoned high school to pursue an acting career, but went on to receive honorary degrees from several universities and garner the highest accolades for his acting, as well as for his writing. In his new book, he inspires and motivates graduates to recognize opportunities, maximize their abilities, and roll with the punches--all with his trademark optimism, warmth, and humor. In A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, Michael draws on his own life experiences to make a case that real learning happens when "life goes skidding sideways." He writes of coming to Los Angeles from Canada at age eighteen and attempting to make his way as an actor. Fox offers up a comically skewed take on how, in his own way, he fulfilled the requirements of a college syllabus. He learned Economics as a starving artist; an unexpected turn as a neophyte activist schooled him in Political Science; and his approach to Comparative Literature involved stacking books up against their movie versions. Replete with personal stories and hilarious anecdotes, Michael J. Fox's new book is the perfect gift for graduates.
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way: Discover the 1960s trend for buying land on a Greek island and building a house. How hard could it be…?
by Nancy Spain<p>The superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author and feminist icon - a woman very much ahead of her time - including her time spent on the glorious island of Skiathos<p> <p>Nancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the 50s and 60s. Witty, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel... twice.<p> <p>Nancy Spain had a deep love of the Mediterranean. So it was no surprise when, in the 1960s, she decided to build a place of her own on the Greek island of Skiathos. With an impractical nature surpassed only by her passion for the project, and despite many obstacles, she gloriously succeeded. This classic memoir is infused with all Spain's chaotic brilliance, zest for life and single-minded pursuit of a life worth living.<p>
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way: Discover the 1960s trend for buying land on a Greek island and building a house. How hard could it be…?
by Nancy SpainThe superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author and feminist icon - a woman very much ahead of her time - including her time spent on the glorious island of Skiathos'A happy, hilarious book' Daily ExpressNancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the 50s and 60s. Witty, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel... twice.Nancy Spain had a deep love of the Mediterranean. So it was no surprise when, in the 1960s, she decided to build a place of her own on the Greek island of Skiathos. With an impractical nature surpassed only by her passion for the project, and despite many obstacles, she gloriously succeeded. This classic memoir is infused with all Spain's chaotic brilliance, zest for life and single-minded pursuit of a life worth living.Perfect for fans of A PLACE IN THE SUN and ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY'Full of fun, and that zest of intelligence that never left her' Sunday Times