A part of one of Ed’s recent blog posts, and then one of his comments: Don’t be a sucker for the philosophical arguments to support any part of this conflict. Obey what your convictions demand within the context; don’t listen to any other voice. Christ is a Person, not a body of ideas. He lives … God and Ontology
The first omnibus I ever read was a Christmas present from my wife: the More Than Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide collection—the one pictured at the bottom of the pile up there. I had read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book when I was in high school, but none of the sequels. This factoid is important … On the Perils of Reading an Omnibus
John Carter Very ambitious offering of a story based on the excellent Barsoom book series from Edgar Rice Burroughs. The worldbuilding was nicely executed but the plot wasn’t anything unusual, but I have to give Disney credit (ew) where it’s due for making it what it was: a strange, action-filled pulp adventure. Hitchiker’s Guide to … Sci-fi and Fantasy Movie and Series Reviews, Part 11
The final boss(es) from my favorite game. I had trouble finding a decent-sized version of both the three-tier statue and Kefka, so I cobbled this together from three different images: the statues, the sun and sky background, and the crazed Kefka himself. The images are from the iOS version of the game, so the pixels … Image: Final Fantasy VI Statue of the Gods and Kefka
Investigation finds doping cover-ups in weightlifting If you found some doping and cover-ups going on, that means there’s a ton of it that is still being covered up. It’s probably everywhere at the professional level, but it’s only investigate if someone with a lot of money makes someone else with a lot of money angry. … Links of Possible Relevance, Part 35
The setting doesn’t have to be medieval period, but shouldn’t be technologically advanced. There is a mostly undetectable Functional Magic source that we’ll call tellura, since it comes from all around the earth. A rare number of people, called tellurics, are born with the ability to sense tellura more fully, and utilize it. Think of … Someone Steal This Video Game Idea: High Fantasy Open World Magic Puzzler
We had adjustable desks at the office, and I would stand most of the time. The last few months of working from home has me sitting way too much, and I could tell it started to affect thing snow that I was back at the gym. So I thought making a standing desk would be … Photos: I Made a Standing Table
If you’re a working stiff like me, you will have seen a printout of the moral alignment chart tacked up in the break room somewhere, assuming your co-workers have a base level of humor. The printouts feature characters from a fictional universe (I refuse to use the word “fandom”) and the characters’ perceived alignment. If … What Is God’s Moral Alignment?
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising MHA has great animation values in the first place, but this movie added to it with some richer scenery and fight dynamics. You know something’s going to happen when a group of superheroes in training are away from their mentors on a remote island, with a “what could go wrong?” … Sci-fi and Fantasy Movie and Series Reviews, Part 10
Metal/jazz drummer Sean Reinert, died last January. He played on my favorite album of all time, Cynic’s Focus, as well as other runners-up albums, like Death’s Human and Aghora’s self-tilted. I first heard his playing at a local show in Northborough, I think at the Trinity Church. As is the standard procedure at punk and … Sean Reinert Tribute
Hawk, the Slayer I don’t know how this got greenlighted, and I don’t know how Jack Palance fell into getting involved. He probably owed someone a favor. A few funny moments here and there, but a stock, poorly-executed, sword and sorcery plot with the most non-reactive protagonist since Dar from The Beastmaster. You can watch … Sci-fi and Fantasy Movie and Series Reviews, Part 9
The story below is a work of fiction. My gym reopened. Waiting in my car, in the parking lot. Should I go in. What if it’s a trap. Owners now lead a COVID-19 cult, worshipping a pestilence god only found in Dungeons & Dragons campaign manuals, luring human bodies back through their doors to trap … Story: Quarantine VI
I posted this about a decade ago here, but I never posted the actual text. I suppose it doesn’t matter that much but a part of me will feel restless until I actually do, especially I mentioned I would do it way back when. So here it is. It was inspired by something I had … Story: Eve’s Geometry
Here’s a bunch of photos of the haul from my friend Chris Francz, my half of the book trade we did. I wrote for his zine, Crucial Times, a while back, and I’ve always liked his art and writing. His Etsy store is here. I’ve only skimmed these for now, but I’ll dive into these … Photos: Chris Francz Books
This was a story I wrote some time ago for Discovery Christian Church, for a Christmas season service that focused on storytelling and art. The story was printed into a little booklet and sold after the service. The money went to a charity, I think. The art was done by one Kevin Rupert. One of … Story: A Native’s Story
Around Thanksgiving one year, Seth (Buzzgrinder editor) came up with the idea of “foodifying” band names, and the resulting graphics we used for the post are below. I did the Photoshop work to screw with the band logo’s, and most of the band name bastardizations were mine. Had a hard time figuring out who Lunches … Punny Band/Food Names
The story below is a work of fiction. One of three birds has been waking me up in the morning. Windows open–rude awakenings are my unjust reward, straight from the bosom of Mother Nature, for allowing her to get closer to me. Their calls are words. One says “Germany, Germany, Germany.” The other says “I … Story: Quarantine V
This is ambiguous for a reason. Those of you who hold the proper awareness and bias would be able to understand the details. The moving images we’re seeing seeing didn’t come out of nowhere. All the opposing sides were previously hedged away from each other by geography and a veneer of civility, which began to … How It Goes
Attack on Titan, Season 1 One of the only kinda-horror series that I can tolerate, and actually enjoy. The setup with the titans is pretty basic and not a lot is spent diving into their lore; most of this first season’s runtime exposes the structure of Paradis’ military and military police. Humanity here is not … Sci-fi and Fantasy Movie and Series Reviews, Part 8
I left this comment on a recent post over at Jill’s blog: I have a theory* that we’re not really designed to hold opinions on large-scale events and the players involved. It has nothing to do with level of intelligence, it’s really a curse of information technology (starting with the telegraph) combined with our natural … It’s Entertainment All the Way Down