Blog

December 30, 2018

The Travelling Cat Chronicles (Review)

kay, backstory – while visiting Japan, I saw a movie poster with a shot of a cat that looked exactly like my late Mookie. Stunned me. Looking further into it, I discovered the book the movie was based on, The Travelling Cat Chronicles. Part of me will continue my search for the flick. But part of me will finish the review of the wonderful book it uncovered. The novel follows a strange and interesting journey of Nana the cat and his companion (not owner – it’s not that sort of relationship) Satoru the human. Satoru, it seems, had found Nana […]
January 3, 2019

A reflection on time (DOG EAR)

ime is always a sour subject with me. I’ve never had enough of it. Even without kids, even with a quiet, low-maintenance wife, there isn’t. I haven’t written seriously (my old Tuesday/Thursday lockdown) for years now. And there are the dusty model  trains, the abandoned telescope, the unwatched movies. But still, in all this, I’m active, frantically so. My recent efforts have been writing StoreyMinus, an interactive game that is nearing something like completion. And then there are two nights each week at the train club. Oh, and my buddy who is in a distant hospital, necessitating a long 2-3 […]
January 6, 2019

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (Review)

eil DeGrasse Tyson is a science popularist, rather like Bill Nye and Carl Sagan. He brings science down to the level where normal nabobs (such as your humble reviewer, with his small backyard scope) can understand. And he does a good job at it. His book on general astrophysics was very good. Starting with the complete history of the universe (at least for its critical first day or so) was quite fascinating. Moving out to the scale of the universe, how scientists calculate things, how we basically know what we know, was quite revealing. It got me to realize just […]
January 9, 2019

Doldrums (DOG EAR)

his isn’t writer’s block. At least I don’t think so. There was an old Odds Bodkins comic (a Berkley counter-culture strip from the late 60s) where a character mumbles that it’s Monday and his brains are in the basement. I’ve always remembered that and it comes to mind now while considering a Thursday blog. Sometimes I just don’t feel like writing. Nothing creative comes to mind. It’s like that with game writing. I’m still adding functionality and adventure to StoreyMinus. During the day, I’ll be so excited to add new stuff to my adventures, like old bomb shelters (complete with […]
January 13, 2019

ShowLog – Deland – 1/(12/13)/2019

etween a software load, a compliance disaster and the possibility of retirement, work is a crazy spin-cycle of shit. Outside of that, there is my friend in the hospital, the game I’m writing, the books I’m trying to read, all this crazy crap. And this weekend, two days of Volusia County Fairgrounds train show. Which was really, surprisingly fun. I didn’t know I’d enjoy myself that much. But even with the minor layout damage (Bill, can you maybe miss a pothole or two with the trailer?) the layout went together smooth and easy. We had good participation from the membership […]
January 13, 2019

Caliban’s War (Review)

nother installment of my up-in-the-favorites scifi series, the crazy-interesting books by a writer team carrying the pseudo name of James S. A. Corey, and what you can view as Season 2 of the Expanse on some of your streaming services. You’ll remember that in our last review, James, Naomi, Amos and Alex had discovered that there was an alien molecule that was being dicked with by a soulless corporation – their thought: hey, we can really save on space suits if we could alter humans by changing their bodies, down to their DNA, to make them into whatever we want […]
January 17, 2019

After Hours (DOG EAR)

saw this great Martin Scorsese flick back when it came out in 1985. Funny story – my best friend’s mom and her daughter went to the art-flic house to see it and were totally confused. Why was this male dating-from-hell movie funny? The next night they took us to see it. We laughed uproariously all the way through it. They looked at us like it was some sort of elaborate joke. If you are a man, see it and think of your own dating disasters. If you are a woman, ask your man to explain it. Or stick with Outlander. […]
January 20, 2019

Dead Man’s Chest (Review)

reasure Island, one of my favorites. Anyone who reads that is in the little club that knows that Long John Silver is not a fearsome blood-soaked pirate, no. He’s a manipulator and odds-player, changing sides as needed and playing his cards clever. And at the end of that story, he’s sprung by Ben Gunn, the cheese-drooling castaway, and apparently sails off to freedom, wealth and anonymity. And good for him. Dead Man’s Chest is a sequel to this tale of pirates and buried treasure. We meet Captain John Paul Jones (of later naval valor, so we think), on the run […]
January 24, 2019

OpsLog – LM&O – 01/23/2019

o one can blame me – after Bruce had a critical medical attack in my car on the way to a train session, well, I really wasn’t in the mood for operations at the club. But I thought about it and knew that he’d kick my ass if I cancelled a session because of him. So I sent out a reminder and showed up. I can’t say why but as I walked in I suddenly knew what I wanted to run – the helper set he always worked up the Harris Glen westbound ascent. The engines were right where he […]
January 24, 2019

Cold Feet (DOG EAR)

nteresting thing happened the other night. I’ve invited my fireball niece (who has done everything from traveling across Ireland with us to riding a critical mass on a Blompton) to do a guest review. She’s settling into her world o’ work and has a little more time, now that her school/party days are sadly fading behind her. Since she’s reading more, I hoped to get some of her book reviews up (less work for me, right?). She agreed. So, the night in question, she IMed me to tell me she was going to write a review. I thought about it […]