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  On the 19 th of February, 2021, the struggling Toronto Raptors barely overcame the even more struggling Minnesota Timberwolves in an 86-81 road win (seriously, the Raptors shot less than 35% from the field). Rookie Anthony Edwards had a rough game, judging by the box score, shooting 3-14 overall and missing all 7 of his three point attempts, while splitting a pair of free throws. He also grabbed 3 rebounds, dished 4 assists, stole the ball twice and blocked 1 shot, while turning it over once. He committed one turnover, and the Timberwolves were outscored by 13 points during his 34 minutes. After the game, seemed to be most focussed on his subpar shooting performance . I didn’t watch the game, but the box score stats make for a disappointing night for a struggling young player, still early in a tough season for everyone.   HE ALSO KILLED A MAN LIVE ON AN INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST.   Apparently acknowledging that a career highlight happened in an otherwise dismal p...

There’s a common cry in comics discourse about the prevalence of variants in the contemporary industry. Recently, I saw news about an issue with over 70 variant covers , coming only shortly after what was a previously beyond ridiculous high-30s . As far as I can tell, the economics of variants seems to be a little fucked, with companies looking to squeeze as much as they can out of both consumers ( especially whales ) and shops. Various schemes, such as attaching variants that are likely to be more sought after to either bulk purchasing or purchasing entirely different issues, force retailers to choose between spending unnecessarily on surplus copies or disappointing customers. The general consensus online, as much as consensus can be found in disparate YouTube bickering, is that the modern state of variants is a constant source of disappointment resulting from frustrating excess. It’s certainly reasonable to take a look at the sheer number of redundant covers and wonder why that money...

 The starkest stylistic differentiation of the art history courses that I took was the clear linearity throughout each of them. Many history courses are built around wide-ranging scopes. Stage 1 courses generally had the largest. One, a Pacific history course “focussed” on the last 1,000 years of the Pacific region, but began with a quick overview of prehistoric developments, such as Sunda and Sahul. Another, even more general course, consisted of a rapid cruise through numerous touchstones of the last 500 years from around the globe, starting  with European arrival in the Americas through a number of revolutions and wars and other generally unconnected happenings. Stage 2 and 3 courses generally had a little more restraint, with some courses focussing on events in one country (such as Japan or Ireland) with a period of less than 300 years. For both, the course was structured by political developments (the Tokugawa shogunate and the ongoing relationship with England) during th...

  This post is based on around a week of playing several modes of NBA 2K20 . When they jump into QuickPlay and other similar modes, NBA 2K20 players are greeted with a selection of three sets of teams: current NBA rosters, notable historic teams, and all-time rosters for each franchise (there are also WNBA teams, but no opportunity for a battle of the sexes). The latter is a welcome addition since the last time I played, although a little more flexibility here would be nice. Using base rosters, there doesn’t seem to be an option to choose past players that fit the criteria, or even add the best of today the ranks of past greats for those who the developers have not yet deemed worthy of a spot. Tyson Chandler’s two seasons with the Mavericks would still qualify him as a fan-favourite among some recent NBA viewers, even if he doesn’t belong in Nowitzki/Finley/Nash territory for that franchise. There’s also a split between the repeatedly great franchises, with almost too many players...