It’s another Sunday, and that means it’s another edition of Sunday Reading!
Folks, I had a Saturday off yesterday and it was about the best thing ever. I forgot what that feels like. I may be working more and harder than I ever have in the past but you know what? I HAVE SATURDAYS BACK. That’s okay. Saturday, in this week’s case, meant spending time with family, hunting stuff with which to pamper the impending puppy, and generally resting up. How’s your weekend been?
While you ponder your own downtime, have a look at some of these articles from the week that was. Some of it from the week that was a week ago, but stay with me, it’s good stuff.
skepticamp Ottawa 2013 – Ottawa Skeptics
Answering once and for all how Canadians should spell “skeptic,” my discovery this week of the Ottawa Skeptics Society and their upcoming skepticamp at the Shopify Lounge Feb. 24th has filled me with no small amount of glee. I’ve been recently burning through the back-catalogue of Rationally Speaking and Big Think, and finding homegrown skeptics is really motivating to continue my plunge. I’ve always held philosophy at arm’s length, for some reason or another, and in hindsight I’m unsure why. Recently, the Ottawa Skeptics and The Gorg Himself had a hand in convincing the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation to drop anti-vaccination activist Jenny McCarthy from their upcoming fundraiser. Fighting disinformation makes these folks pretty rad in my books. Go check out skepticamp! Read More
Eight Women, Eight Responses, and One Dead Island Riptide Statue – Patrick Klepek, Giant Bomb
It seems like representations of women in gaming is becoming a regular theme over here at Sunday Reading but this deserves mention. This masterpiece of objectification is part of Deep Silver’s Dead Island: Riptide collector’s edition, and it’s raised the usual level of ire from the gaming community. There were the usual camps–the gamers who decry this kind of thing (of which I am one); the gamers who claim that this isn’t sexist, just dumb; the gamers who think that because they aren’t offended nobody should be. More. It’s a messy debate that I hope will tear the gaming community at large apart to a degree–just look at what happened with Anita Sarkeesian and how things exploded after that. I want to see this debate become part of every release, every piece of media, every discussion about gaming as an art form. And here’s the best part of this particular article: Patrick Klepek, games journo wunderkind and News Editor for Giant Bomb, collected responses from eight women within the gaming industry. These are insiders, these are educated and articulate women. And they’re providing an invaluable perspective on this issue. It’s a great read. Read More
Sunday Reading is a short one this week, mostly because I’m trying to focus in on these two things–two examples of people genuinely trying to make a positive difference in their respective communities. Stuff like this gives me hope, folks.
As always, paddle your own canoe.
Trevor
