^TagEntertainment

Baseball on home plate on baseball field

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
November 6, 2023

Categorized
Probability

Tagged
Entertainment, greed, MLB, Rangers, World Series}

A Modest Proposal for the MLB

_{Major League Baseball got greedy and needs to reform.} _{Gary Smith

November 6, 2023

6

Probability}

The Major League Baseball (MLB) season is finally over. Whew! In the World Series, the Texas Rangers (which tied with Houston and Philadelphia for the 6th best regular-season record) defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks (which had the 13th best regular-season record). What exactly was the point? Many of the games were entertaining but no one would seriously argue that these were the two best MLB teams. There was a time when the World Series pitted the American League team with the best regular-season record against the National League team with the best regular-season record. Then, the MLB got greedy and crafted an elaborate playoff system designed to increase revenue. First came two rounds, then three rounds, now four rounds. Currently, 12 Read More ›

Internet broadband and multimedia streaming entertainment

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post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 3, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, American culture, Artificial Intelligence, Books and Culture, David Foster Wallace, Entertainment, Infinite Jest, Sara Ditum, The Internet, UnHerd}

Infinite Jest Revisited

_{The 1996 book by David Foster Wallace saw the Internet explosion, and its effects, approaching fast} _{Peter Biles

August 3, 2023

2

Arts & Culture}

David Foster Wallace was 34 when his magnum opus Infinite Jest appeared in 1996. He tragically took his life in 2008, but the title he’s known for best remains an awe-inspiring, controversial tome. UnHerd writer Sarah Ditum wrote a great review revisiting the book in which she writes, “He did not see the future. But he saw the forces shaping the future, and understood the ways they would deform people in turn.” Infinite Jest, a 1,000 plus page book with 200 pages of tedious endnotes to boot, imagines an American context not so foreign from our own where entertainment has become so powerful that it hopelessly addicts everyone who encounters it. The Internet was already budding in ’96, but the inevitable Read More ›

Interior of an abandoned hospital corridor. Generative AI

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
April 5, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Entertainment, HBO Max, Morality, The Last of Us, TV shows, Zombies}

The Last of Us, Episode 9

_{Getting to the central moral question of the entire series} _{Gary Varner

April 5, 2023

8

Arts & Culture}

The episode begins with another flashback, showing how Ellie was born. Then, we see that Joel and Ellie have finally reached Salt Lake City, and once there, the writers retell some of the classic scenes from the game. During these scenes, it becomes evident that the two characters are much closer now. I’d say the writers did manage to successfully transition Joel and Ellie from an adversarial partnership to a father-daughter like relationship. Before long; however, the two are disoriented by a flash grenade, and Joel is knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, he sees Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, standing in a doorway with armed guards around her. They made it to the medical facility after all, but Read More ›

Grand Tetons peak at sunrise with snake river overlook in Wyoming, US

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
March 25, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Entertainment, HBO Max, Science fiction, Streaming, television, The Last of Us, TV shows}

The Last of Us, Episode 6

_{A tale of zombies and...communism?} _{Gary Varner

March 25, 2023

10

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Episode six starts out strong. We meet an elderly couple who has been living alone in Wyoming. Joel and Ellie break into their cabin and ask for directions in the rudest way possible—at gun point—which is a little over the top, and even the actors playing the couple seem to know it. As Joel sits beside the old pair, holding a gun and acting dour, the elderly man chats with him, sporting a bemused grin. Joel and Ellie get the directions they need and soon come across a group of men and women on horseback who hold them at gunpoint and check to see if they’re infected. Once it becomes clear that Joel and Ellie are fine, the riders ask Read More ›