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Brian David Phillips

This is my site. I am Brian David Phillips. If you don't know what I'm up to or about, you probably shouldn't be here.

LitCrit Round Table

I teach Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism courses in the English Department at National Chenghi University both to undergraduates and for the graduate school (while the general theme and subject matter is similar, the actual context for the courses at the two levels is very different). Occassionally, I blather on about my own take on…

Bitter Tears at Sad Mary’s

Bitter Tears at Sad Mary’s is a wonderful interactive drama freeform live action role playing game by Scott Beattie and Tonia Walden that plays with the nature of reality. It is predominately an experiment in deconstructive interactive drama with a twist. It is a small piece with merely a dozen players but it is complex…

Kerry kicks Bush in the Balls

Karl has a nice image on his blog of Kerry kicking Bush in the Balls . . . I wouldn’t count the bananas too quickly on the debate. From what I saw, Kerry did kick Bush’s balls pretty hard . . . but . . . Bush is still pretty strong in the polls and…

Alfred Kinsey: Liberator or Pervert?

Alfred Kinsey: Liberator or Pervert? I vote . . . all of the above . . . but in the good sense of the words. While his detractors may have problems with his conclusions and the impact he has had on how we view our sexuality . . . the longterm impact has been very…

Breastphone . . . growing breasts via the ringtone

Who would have thunk it? Now, women can enlarge their breasts simply by letting their cellphones ring. Hideto Tomabechi is now marketing a ringtone for cellphones that claims to increase breast size for women who listen to it. Tomabechi is best known for headline-grabbing "deprogramming" work with members of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult that…

Polygamy Laws Expose Our Own Hypocrisy

Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington Law School, has some vey clea insights into how Polygamy Laws Expose Our Own Hypocrisy as these laws were not put in place to protect anyone but were placed as a means of religious intolerance . . . an intolerance that no longer…

The Mind of Jimmy Swaggart

Way back in the days of yore . . . in the late ’80s when I was at university at a Christian university (yes, really) . . . my buddies and I used to get a kick out of watching Jimmy Swaggart on television as he was so predictable . . . his pitches and…

Shake Your Belly?

What an odd caption . . . Single Women Shake Their Bellies . . . that’s not all they’re shaking. A couple months back, Lorraine, Kaye, and I saw a performance by a Belly Dancing Troupe at Core Pacific (the Living Mall) in Taipei . . . quite interesting. The troupe has classes and was…

The Horus Project

This week in my critical theory course, we’re looking at post-structuralism or deconstruction. The Horus Project examines and plays with deconstructive forms . . . the audio visual presentation is quite interesting . . . creepy, but interesting.

The Race for Commercial Space Travel

Vigrin Group has entered the space race . . . big time . . . I just hope that the VSS Enterprise accomplishes more than tourist junkets. It seems a shame that so far commercial space flight has been for guys who pay US$20 million tickets to get a chance to stare into space from…

Hyperacuity and Hyperempiria

Discussing Hyperacuity & Hyperempiria Hyperacuity is the heightened sensitivity of the senses. This is often found in trance subjects and can be increased through the use of suggestion (a few folks have done some really interesting work with blindfolds and hearing or with sight and memory). Hyperempira is a system based on suggestions of enhanced…

Standards within the Lay Hypnosis Community

I originally wrote and crossposted this as a response to a post on the Omnigrads list (an EXCELLENT list for graduates of training programs taught by Gerry Kein) as part of a thread regarding an advertisement for a short-term hypnotherapy training course that offers certification with one of the large national organizations. I’ve removed specific…