Notes from MAPCAACA

I am in Philadelphia for the second time in a month, this time for the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture conference. It's a smallish gathering -- probably under 200 attendees, total -- and so far there have been some particularly interesting sessions about childhood and children's culture. I sat through about half of a media studies session; the first paper (on the construction of quality among professional media critics) was very interesting, but I was driven out of the room by a series of incredibly ignorant stereotypes, bone-headed observations and sweeping generalizations by the next speaker. I was particularly struck by the presenter's assertion that that James Bond and Playboy arrived on the American scene "at the same time". Which I suppose is true, from the perspective of someone born in 1980. (mrowrrr...)