In the ink well

Dog Ear

March 7, 2024

Future Nostalgia (DOG EAR)

ne of the popular methods of making distant future scifi relatable to us in the present day is to adorn the stories with items that relate to our world. The idea is that our present is carried into this future, to make us more curious. After all, there is our time carried forward for our amusement. Some examples. The Rocinante – This is the space ship in the wonderful Expanse series. It is the name of Don Quixote’s broken-down mount, and sorta hints that the heroes of that series consider themselves misguided in their various quests. Also, in one part, […]
February 22, 2024

Politics (DOG EAR)

very now and then while scrolling FaceBook, I’ll find an old Calvin and Hobbs strip. I’ll generally pause and enjoy it (which is probably why the FaceBook AI bots send me more of them (creepy)). I like the fresh art and the humor of a child who, like Dennis the Menace, is out of control. It ended after ten years when creator Bill Watterson decided he’d said all he could and couldn’t work with the compression of comics in dying newspapers. I can respect him for this. Recently a Dilbert group showed up, complete with a weird cartoon that didn’t make […]
February 16, 2024

Missed signals (DOG EAR)

o today, here’s a brief column about the earliest form of human communication: the gesture. In this case, it’s flipping the bird. Side note: Yes, the finger came about after Agincourt in 1415, but it is a gesture so I’m going with it. Now, I’m a cyclist. And a pedestrian. I walk and bike more than most people, and hence can tell you that most people drive like furious buttheads. Having been on the receiving end, I slow way down and swing way wide of any non-car humans. I’ve been hit by cars once while on foot and six times […]
February 1, 2024

Duel of the Samurai (DOG EAR)

t was an interesting day. My friend Chris models (indirectly) the railroad yard at Taft, south of Orlando. Of course, the only real way this game executive and dad can really get an idea of the actual industries and scenery is google maps. You just can’t really stroll onto railroad property anymore, not with the railroad cops and hobos (both equally dangerous). So I suggested making a day of it using SunRail, our local north-south heavy rail than runs down the CSX lines into Taft (which he wants to see up close). So we did. It was a nice ride […]
January 18, 2024

The game is afoot! (DOG EAR)

ames are media and so they get an occasional spot on my media-blog. And here it is! The thing about games is how diverse the field is now. Using Steam, you can choose from thousands of games of any genre you prefer. It’s all there. My first game (and the reason I signed up on Steam) is Spelunky. Originally a freebee eight-bit game, in Spelunky, you play the role of a spelunker who is trying to get to the bottom of a maze of tunnels. The remake (the first, not “2”) really was my prefect go-to comfort game – there […]
January 11, 2024

Not again dammit! (DOG EAR)

o this sucks. I’d been invited to help run three model railroads during a local event. I’ve proven myself to the owners with running and dispatching their lines. Super. These were jammed into two days and as I always do, I wanted to blog each of them (my blogs are famous in the local community). The next morning (early) I went to write the first one. Everything went fine until I went to include my link to my website’s book page (where my various offerings are available). And wouldn’t you know it – the references to Amazon (which you have […]
December 28, 2023

Best of 2023 (DOG EAR)

nce again, my favorite books of the year for 2023. Unlike prior years, I’ll post these in reverse order of enjoyment, meaning the top pick is at the end, and we’ll build up to it. So here we go: Top Books I Read in 2023! Number 5: Norse Mythology: A great book from Neil Gaiman that looks at the Norse gods and their struggles in plain (and enjoyable) English. A great read about great struggles, and the end-of-the-world was quite touching. Number 4: Never Surrender: The story of Churchill and the struggles he faces as the forces of fascism assembled […]
December 21, 2023

Carol & The Blog (DOG EAR)

atching an interesting show on NetFlix – Carol and the End of the World. It’s animated and interesting – I’ve only seen three episodes so far so I won’t be spoiling much. So all we know is that some sort a massive body in space (a planetoid or something) is moving towards Earth and will destroy it in seven months. And so everyone is fulfilling their dreams and living life to the fullest. Happily, there is very little rioting or freaking out (the only evidence are broken windows and national guard tanks outside the supermarket – with bored guardsmen running […]
December 14, 2023

Backup Blogs (DOG EAR)

his blog on books, media and our perceptions is a labor of love. It is not monetized in any way. I don’t make any money off it (in fact, I pay out the nose to support it (and the blogs aren’t free, either)). No ads pop up. I don’t beg for likes and subscribes. I just like writing it and occasionally someone tells me they enjoyed what I have written. So it’s worked out so far. Then came this “paperwork thing” I’ve had to do. The National Model Railroad Association has a series of achievement programs where, if you get […]
December 7, 2023

Santa’s burly, dangerous helper (DOG EAR)

ookophiles, it’s nearly Christmas (or Xmas, which means, what, “Extreme Christmas”?) and you know what it’s time for again, don’t you? Yes, it’s time for putting antlers and even a red poofy nose on your FUV. Okay, let’s look at this. I can’t take credit for coining the “FUV” phrase. It came from “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR. One of the guests slipped and said it and I made it my very own. An FUV (i.e. an SUV) is an oversized car, sometimes riding high on a heavy chassis, a total Americanization/Consumerization of the standard automobile. And, as […]