. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon The Furniture Store as Theme Park Edition (with Complimentary Bonus Photos!) FIERCELY ANTICIPATING Jordan’s Furniture Over the past decade, when dinner party chatter would turn to the topic of the best themed furniture stores in the nation, my well-worn response would always be, “Gallery Furniture in Houston is the [...]

. a subbing in by Michael Gutenplan [Ed. Note: Dear Ryan will be back next week, but meanwhile please enjoy Michael Gutenplan's tale of going to Vegas alone. Yes, alone! And show him lots of comment love.] You Should Fiercely Anticipate (This trip for yourself!) Las Vegas Las Vegas is an amazing town and there’s [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon FIERCELY ANTICIPATING Madden NFL 10 “Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete and possesses magnitude; in language made pleasurable, each of its species separated in different parts; performed by actors, not through narration; effecting through pity and fear the purification of such emotions.” – Poetics [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon FIERCELY REMEMBERING Flea Markets The middle of August is almost here and — if today’s release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra wasn’t enough of a hint – that means we have officially entered the dreary days of dog.   For those attending or teaching school in the [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon FIERCELY ANTICIPATING Finishing The Power Broker   This column is a cry for help. While I normally wouldn’t use this space to talk about my personal life, this particular crisis has left me paralyzed to think or write about anything else: I am in a long-term book reading relationship [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon FIERCELY ANTICIPATING In the Loop In the graveyard of movie genres, the traditional, door-slamming farce (celluloid and digital descendants of French playwright Georges Feydeau’s oeuvre) must be one of the first tombstones. Movies that fit this form (A Fish Called Wanda or Victor Victoria, for example) arrive in cinemas [...]

On Saturday, July 11th, “John Dunn’s Last Run,” a 30-minute film I wrote and directed that revolves around nighttime jogging, ghosts, underage sexual temptation and unwanted back hair will screen at the Johnstown Film and Wine Festival in Pennsylvania.* Since I’m sure that many of you are planning to see the film and sip some [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon FIERCELY ANTICIPATING IMAGINE THAT or: The Eddie Murphy Code Hollywood has been trying to crack the secret code to making box office hits since the day the brothers Warner hopped on that train from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. While that mystery will probably forever remain unsolved, your dear blogumnist [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon FIERCELY ANTICIPATING Up Seemingly every review and article about Pixar’s Up mentions the fact that this new movie gives the Emeryville, CA studio a perfect 10 for 10 streak of critical and box office success for their films. In fact, many refer to this streak as some kind of [...]

. a blogumn by Ryan Dixon NOTES ON A ROBOT REVOLUTION Photo by Ariel Boston I awoke with tears in my eyes. Being only eight years old, it was the first time I had ever had a dream emotionally powerful enough to make me cry. It was a dream that not only provided me with [...]