By Bob Schwabach IN 1938, Johan Huizinga, the Dutch medieval historian, published a speculative essay called ''Homo Ludens'' -- literally, ''game playing man.'' In it, Huizinga examined the generally unquestioned labeling of our species as ''Homo sapiens'' -- ''intelligent man.'' Several alternative labels have been put forth by anthropologists and historians: ''man the … [Read more...] about DON’T BET YOUR CYBER SAVINGS ON VIDEO GAME SPIN-OFFS
Movies
A SILENT COMEDY SURROUNDED BY SOUND
By Bob Schwabach THE first time I saw a Jacques Tati movie, I thought something had gone wrong with the sound system. It was a student film society showing at the University of Chicago, and things like that go wrong all the time. I was on the verge of getting up to tell someone in the projection booth when I realized that there was nothing wrong with the sound at all -- it … [Read more...] about A SILENT COMEDY SURROUNDED BY SOUND