My latest piece of fan-fiction, now available at Noble Cobra Magazine: The old red hat still fit. It was a little faded from when he had first worn it, a little stained from years under leaky pipes, but after all these years it sat just as comfortably as ever upon his head. It was what … Continue reading The Last Game
Video Games
Second Mario Trailer – Yep, Looks Bad
I was pleasantly surprised by the first trailer for the new, animated Super Mario Brothers movie: the aesthetics looked just right, Bowser was portrayed as a genuine threat rather than a joke, and so on. Now the second one's landed and...egh. Good feeling's gone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMYg69DfFLs As I said last time, the crucial factor is Peach, … Continue reading Second Mario Trailer – Yep, Looks Bad
Friday Flotsam: Corman and Earthbound
1. Very busy week at the job, with all kinds of calls and issues coming up. And I've got a cold on top of it. Things seem to have tapered off a bit, fortunately, and the cold only gave me one really bad day. Still, looking forward to the weekend. 2. A good mark of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Corman and Earthbound
Friday Flotsam: Minnesota and Mario
1. Spent most of the week in Minneapolis getting training for my new job. It went fine for the most part, but travel is always tiring, especially travel for work. Looking forward to the weekend. 2. I always hate air travel; crammed alongside strangers for an hour or more while the pressurized air grinds against … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Minnesota and Mario
Friday Flotsam: Ember Days, RPGs, and ‘Bofuri’ Season 2
1. Last full week at work. One of my assignments was to make a particular alteration in the code. It was a matter of changing a single parameter in Javascript. It then took over a day to get it approved and pushed through for testing. Probably this is something that happens all the time in … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Ember Days, RPGs, and ‘Bofuri’ Season 2
Thoughts on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’
2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog was a lot better than it really had any right to be, borne along on a tide of audience good-will, easy-going charm, and a fun throw-back performance by Jim Carrey. I was pleased with it and looking forward to the promised sequel. Well, now I’ve seen the sequel (actually, I saw … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’
Flash Fiction: A Roll of Quarters
Allan anxiously fingered the roll of quarters in his pocket – his whole gaming allowance for the week – as he waited in line at the arcade snack counter. Was he really going to do this? One guy ahead of him in the line. Sarah was ringing him up, her curly brown hair falling over … Continue reading Flash Fiction: A Roll of Quarters
Low-Effort Blogging: Unskippable
Because I'm still sick, I'm doing some extra low-effort blogging right now. In this case, here are some videos of a now-ended series called 'Unskippable', which is basically Mystery Science Theater 3000 for cheesy video game cut-scenes. It was a charming series, with the two laid-back-sounding hosts providing easy-going humor (as I recall, there's very … Continue reading Low-Effort Blogging: Unskippable
Thoughts on ‘Rampage’
A couple weeks ago, my movie night was revisiting Rampage, the 2018 video game adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson, Jeffery Dean Morgan, and a giant cgi gorilla. When I first saw the film in theaters, I found myself unexpectedly pleased by it, at least for what it is. Keep in mind that I saw it just … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Rampage’
‘Rama’ Soundtrack
Gather 'round children, and I will tell you a tale. In 1973, author Arthur C. Clark came out with Rendezvous with Rama, about an encounter with an enormous alien ship. It was followed in 1989 with a sequel Rama II, about the second encounter with the ship. In 1997, the two books were adapted into … Continue reading ‘Rama’ Soundtrack
Serpent's Den 