Aspergirl Tilly is an asset to Star Trek

autism / Media

This blog was originally written in Dutch, for Teeveehoek.nl After Sesame Street, Star Trek has now also added an autistic looking character to the cast. In the new series, the viewers became acquainted with Sylvia Tilly, beautifully acted by Mary Wisema. Tilly appears to be an ‘Aspergirl’, a woman with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. Why is that? Is Tilly the first ‘Trekkie’ with ‘autistic’ traits? And why is it relevant at all whether there are ‘Aspies’ or other ‘autistic characters’ in Star Trek?

Zombie Reconstructions in Contemporary Society: the Zombie Mermaid

mermaids

At this moment, I am working on a chapter for an edited volume called “Deconstructing the Zombie: Cultural and Ideological Approaches”. It can hardly be a surprise that I am working on the composite character of the Zombie Mermaid. 😉 As I am very keen on your feedback and suggestions (some more case studies, anyone?), I thought it would be nice to share some of my work-in-progress with you.

Kendo links

kendo / martial arts

Last February, my friend – a fellow karate nerd – and I participated in the Martial Arts Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We demonstrated some kata, learned some new tricks with the jo, had much fun in the workshops by Takeda Ryu… and then, the unexpected happened. 😉 I fell in love. With kendo.

Starbucks Swot and Pestle Analyses

Starbucks

Frappuccino dominating selfies on Instagram, vlogs about pumpkin spiced latte and weblog posts as “Review of Starbuck’s Orange/Mango Blend” – Starbucks is great on as well as in social media. The maritime logo of the mermaid appears to have become an identity marker of coolness for teenage and twenty-something girls. Lifestyle journalists starting as early as at the age of twelve contribute a lot to Starbucks’s brand publishing (also known as content marketing). Currently, I am writing a book chapter that explores how and why Starbucks engages these so-called “influencers” to popularize their products. To get an idea of the company behind the green Siren and its place is in the current world, in this blog post I analyse Starbucks with the Swot and Pestle models.