61 Frames Per Second by John Constantine Today in Nerve's videogame blog: We put the fighting behind us with Mirror's Edge and reminisce about the modal powers of Mario Paint.
The Remote Island by Bryan Christian Today on Nerve's TV blog: Possible Gossip Girl season two spoilers include Chuck Bass threeway. Plus: Zach Braff leaving the show that wouldn't die.
Scanner by Emily Farris Today on Nerve's culture blog: Scanner Nicole falls for the world's biggest nerd.
Dating Confessions by You "I want to dump my good-looking, clean-cut, polite boyfriend... for my awkward, goofy, nerdy and crass friend. Because I want to be with someone more like myself."
Over the four years that I wrote my column Jack's Naughty Bits, I began and ended with a few lines of Dante's Inferno that I thought encapsulated perfectly everything the Naughty Bits was about. The scene is Dante's famous encounter with Paolo and Francesca, the couple who went to Hell for an adulterous love spurred on by reading a racy book. Paolo and Francesca's story dramatizes the power I've always thought books should possess: to move, to stir the senses, to elicit thoughts, feelings, moods, memories and even illicit kisses from one's secret paramour. We read to feel, and I hope, if you read my "bits", that they help you feel as moved and motivated as Francesca.
