Ziad Shihab

Showing all posts tagged "Puzzle"

Lorelei And The Laser Eyes - a Puzzle Game

May 16th, 2024

Puzzles are a kind of analog telepathy. The puzzle designer conceives of an idea, and then attempts, through the expression of their work—a maze, a cipher, an encoded message or cleverly hidden clue—to export that idea to someone else’s head, in as clean a fashion as possible. It’s the same process that happens in nearly any artistic endeavor, really, except made more direct and pure: Puzzles, unlike stories, have solutions, essentially demanding that you follow the designer’s intent all the ...

Beside You in Time

September 5th, 2023

illustration by Marc AspinallA woman dives off a yacht into the shimmering waters of the Amalfi Coast, simultaneously imprisoned by, and freed from, her future self. Only, before, she doesn’t know it yet. You see, time is relative. When she glimpses the woman––who is, in fact, herself––swan into the sea as she approaches the yacht by motor boat, she’s a stranger to the woman she will become, first seen in lean silhouette, a symbol of her desired extrication from an abusive husband who is both...

Who is the real father at the end of ‘The Departed’?

August 27th, 2023

(Credits: Far Out / Warner Bros. Pictures) Who is the real father at the end of 'The Departed'? Sun 27th Aug 2023 13.15 BST Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed 2006 crime thriller, The Departed, won critical acclaim and legions of devoted fans for its twists, turns, and moral ambiguities. Among all the double-triple crossing and executions, one of the subtler threads weaving thro...

Jean Baudrillard’s America and Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49: Entropic Symbolism of Puzzling the Puzzled – International Journal of Baudrillard Studies

May 21st, 2022

Jean Baudrillard’s America and Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49: Entropic Symbolism of Puzzling the Puzzled ISSN: 1705-6411 Volume 12, Number 2 (July 2015) Author: Dr Abdullah H. Kurraz In The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon presents a postmodern society of a huge replication of puzzling, yet, entropic symbols and ciphers, which result in an immense number of interpretations and meanings. So, the authentic interpretative communities are both indefinite and chaotic. Crying...

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Intentionally Disposable Art: The Teen Agers Films

April 27th, 2021

I am not the only person unduly fascinated by a series of eight cheap, forgettable films released by Monogram Pictures between 1946 and 1948, all starring a malleable cast of diminutive, fully adult actors dubbed the Teen Agers. Podcasts and conversations have convinced me that the Teen Agers films hold a rare fascination for certain people. These people, like me, have been around the block a few more times than necessary on bad movies, and know more than a little bit about 20th century film....