Dog Ear

September 9, 2021

War of the Writers (DOG EAR)

nyone who knows me knows I love H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds. It was a book that opened up the world for younger me and showed me things I really didn’t understand. So nobody was more excited than I when I found out that BBC was doing a miniseries on WOTW, set (for once) in the actual timeframe of the book (1900 or so). Finally! What a disaster. We were finally able to watch it on Vudu. Yeah, so commercials every few minutes. But that wasn’t the worst of it. It was this fact: The writers thought that they […]
September 16, 2021

Uncork (DOG EAR)

‘m not proud of what I did, but I did it and I’ll stand by it. A few days ago I lost a longtime friend to Covid. He chose not to get his shot and paid the price. I can’t be sure why he made this decision but I have to think that part of it was the symphony of misinformation and bald-faced lies about the safety of the shots and the dangers of Covid. His choice. However. A day after hearing of his passing, someone on Facebook started with the misinformation again, questioning masks, blaming the current administration for […]
September 23, 2021

Backlogged (DOG EAR)

es, usually I’m behind on books and reviewing late. Sometimes I’m saved when I beg a guest writer to blog a book for me. All it takes is a massive slow-read and I’m behind the eight ball again. But that isn’t the problem now. First, I was on vacation for a week, listening to a book a day on CDs while driving. And then I came home to find my computer’s wifi down. I couldn’t fix it for a week since I needed to get a newsletter shipped. And then there was the couple of days the repairs took. And […]
September 30, 2021

Getting Old (Dog Ear)

o here was the thing – I have two books I dearly loved and they made movies out of them. Now, the movies took different paths from the books and purist-me, you’d think I’d really object to that sort of thing. But the producers did well, telling a new story with a different meaning. And really, if I had to admit it (and I do, since I’m blogging it), I love them both. So I thought about it for a bit and decided it would make a great posting – yes, pointing out how art can tell two stories with […]
October 7, 2021

Books and movies – a positive comparison (DOG EAR)

eah, usually I dislike the differences between books and movies. Occasionally they get it right (such as The Three Musketeers (1973) which (aside from the casting of Porthos, was dead on)). But usually they get it wrong (as I commented on a recent War of the Worlds remake from a few weeks back HERE). But sometimes they do it right. Now, by right, I don’t mean they do the story line-for-line perfect (that would be to much to ask – Hollywood has a lot of writers who wish to “re-imagine” (a word I despise; I prefer the more correct and […]
October 14, 2021

The Speech (DOG EAR)

took my Dale Carnegie class seriously at work years back. Every speech I would develop, block out, practice, reblock, practice, index card it, and practice. My two minute speeches were always two minutes. In fact, it frustrated me that other people in the class would just show up and wing it (and drone for five minutes or more). I always felt that the class facilitators should have called them out on it. No, they were trying to sell classes and books. When I finally had enough of random um-fests that droned on without purposes I told the group it was […]
October 21, 2021

The Speech Concluded (DogEar)

he Plant City Holiday Inn, out in the middle of nowhere, Florida. Thursday night, the first night of the National Model Railroad Association. And as mentioned in this BLOG, I was slated to give a speech about my small model railroad and how to hold operations on it. It’s 6:45pm, fifteen minutes until go-time. Outside of my wife getting the handouts ready and the twenty-five empty chairs, it’s just me and my layout (propped on an easel). Two scenarios are running through my mind. The convention is just starting and all the guys who might come are shaking hands and […]
October 28, 2021

The Golden Age (DOG EAR)

o picture yourself living in a sleepy Spanish colonial village in 1650 or so. Your occupations as a hunter/fisherman/cobbler brings in enough to keep your wife and brats fed. And then, one day, a sail appears. With this, your pacific life ends. Crazed pirates storm ashore through the surf. Some people are butchered where they stand. And you, captured by them, can only watch as your wife (and possibly your children) are raped to death. And then you are tortured for the location your supposed wealth. Racked with pain and anguish, you look up at the blue Caribbean sky (framed […]
November 11, 2021

Second Thoughts (DOG EAR)

had a piece all queued up for today, a thing about learning something I knew about someone, something that rocked me back on my heels and made me blink. It was about how we characterize people we know in our minds and are startled when we learn or see something that changes this ideal. I wrote it early this morning (after waking up and thinking about this person). It was a good piece, having my full emotions and concerns in it. Saved it in drafts and walked with my wife for breakfast. When I got home I looked at it […]
November 18, 2021

Respect (DOG EAR)

‘ve been thinking about this for a while. The wife and I watch a lot of Japanese shows on the various streaming sources (and not just anime). The thing that always catches my attention is the formalized respect that people pay to one another in Japan. If they are wrong (or shamed) they bow. And they mean it. It’s always a formal thanks or apology to the person being honored. Of course, in America, it’s a little more… informal. if you do a heroic deed for someone, they will offhandedly throw off a “thanks”. Or maybe buy you lunch (if […]