The SamHill Energy Postmodern Village / EastWesterly Review Conference 2012

Richard Milhouse Nikon: Free Trade, Japanese Technological Ascendancy, and the Era of Internationalism, a Burlesque
by Kissy Henninger

To the tune of "Freeze-Frame," Henninger's, um, performance, revealed as much about his/her physiognomy as it did about globalized trade. But we're sure we'll fund a use for the feathered boas distributed liberally to intrigued attendees.

Chester Cheeta (Mc)Arthur: Political Patronage, Cheese Puffs, and the Fading of Old Generals, a Treatise in Three Snacks
by James E. Splain

A three-course treat in empty (headed) calories, Splain's monomaniacal monograph rearranged our preconceptions of political personality games into a matter of militant mascots and jingoistic jingles. We were left conflicted but coated in a light haze of powdered, orange cheese.

Warren G. Hadron and the Discovery of the "G" Particle: Complexity, Obscurity, and Subatomic Rhetoric, an Acceleration at Lightspeed
by Charles Electron Hughes

The opacity of Harding's pronouncements provide more than just a metaphorical moment for Hughes, who breaks open the bits of history to reveal their hidden elements, deconstructing the micro-meanings and forces that create language itself. Even though practical applications of all this are doubtless a long way off, we were proud to be at their energetic origins. Maybe by the time this influences how we make our Froot Loops, we'll actually understand it all.

Herbert Hooverphonic: Trip-Hop at the Tea-Dome--Economic Busts and Vocal Lullz
by Ogden General Mills

Mills's beatz was as phat as the denizens of da Hoovervilles was thin.

Marilyn Monroe Shocks: Sex Symbols, the Presidency, and the Colonization of the Road--a Service Ticket
By John C. Carhorn

Carhorn opened his presentation with an expansive rush, a powerful overtaking, a scintillating push of rhetorical torque. As American as a finned Caddy, and just as dated, we still see the arc of his point and the curves of his historico-narrative dialect(r)ic. We lament the passing of this lane of history like an ancient ache in the loins.

James Madison Avenue, or Why We Never Elect a Man We Don't Want to Drive On: City Planning, Street Names, and the Future of Obama Lane
by William Crawlforward

The power of the political ad, argues Crawlforward, tears candidates down to the level of paving stones--which is right where we want them. But how many roads must a pol drive down before they call him elected?

Eddie van Buren: "Rock a Bye Baby," "High Hopes," and Other Riffs on Campaign Song Triumphs and Tragedies
by David Lee Forsyth

Forsyth shredded his way through history with an amped-up crunch and a wah-wah style that delivered a whammy of a thesis. Why campaign songs have faded out is puzzling when riffed on this way.

Snackary Daiquiri Taylor Swift: Popping Cherries in Snack Food from Rumtopf to Fruit Roll-Ups
By Tom M. Collins

Collins's rough-and-ready idea that snack foods need to be "devirginized" to be taken seriously in the marketplace was patently offensive, but, somehow, we can't get his tune-of-phrase out of our heads.