Tragically, Ian Fleming only wrote 8 James Bond short stories. (Nine, if you count the short piece about making scrambled eggs. I do not.) I say “tragically,” as I consider “The Living Daylights” to be Fleming’s finest James Bond work. (The Timothy Dalton film The Living Daylights generally does justice to Fleming’s short story inContinue reading “Things I’ve Been Reading: James Bond: Service”
Author Archives: Allyn
Baseball on a Summer’s Evening
Wednesday night, I found a baseball outside Carlo Crispino Stadium after the Baltimore Redbirds’ home opener. In a roundabout way, that led me to witness the strangest ending to a baseball game I’ve ever seen. I found the baseball in the grass. I assumed it was a foul ball, hit in a late inning duringContinue reading “Baseball on a Summer’s Evening”
A Yard Sale Find
It’s Yard Sale Saturday in Dallastown. At least every other block, there’s a yard sale. I stopped at most every one I passed, took a glance, said a few words of hello to the hosts, and moved on. You get glimpses into people’s lives — the Hello Kitty collection here, the Hilary Duff CD collectionContinue reading “A Yard Sale Find”
Found in the Grass
Wednesday night after work, I went to a baseball game. It was the week of publishing deadlines, Wednesday had been a long and often frustrating day, and the Baltimore Redbirds, a team in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, a summer wooden bat league for college students, was playing their home opener in Towson. ItContinue reading “Found in the Grass”
Exploring Cemeteries
Last weekend, after the Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival, I drove home by way of Eldersburg, mainly because it was easier to head north to Liberty Road instead of south to I-70. As I approached Eldersburg, I decided, entirely on a whim, to visit the church graveyard where my great-uncle and great-aunt are buried, coincidentally quite closeContinue reading “Exploring Cemeteries”
Reflections on Ten Years
Wednesday marked my tenth anniversary at Diamond Comic Distributors. Part of Diamond’s culture revolves around the daily “Service Anniversaries” e-mail. HR sends out an e-mail to the entire company acknowledging those employees who are celebrating an anniversary, and then people throughout the company, some you’ll know, some you won’t, will send you congratulations. Suffice itContinue reading “Reflections on Ten Years”
Revisiting the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
With Disney’s recent announcement that the fifth Indiana Jones film is due out in July 2020, I decided I should revisit the last Indiana Jones film, 2008’s The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Crystal Skull has a reputation of being a bad film — an over-reliance on CGI effects, a nonsensical story, “nuking the fridge,”Continue reading “Revisiting the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
An Unsatisfying Star Wars Salute to the Beatles
We need to talk about Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about and haven’t read vearious articles about it (like NPR‘s or Slate‘s), PLSDSP is an album that retells the story of Star Wars using the music of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. TheContinue reading “An Unsatisfying Star Wars Salute to the Beatles”
The Sights and Sounds of Wrigley Field
Diamond Comic Distributor‘s 2017 Retailer Summit was held last week in Chicago, in conjunction with the C2E2 convention. I had long been asking to go on some sort of work trip like this — I wanted to see a different side of the industry and meet the retailers — and this year the production schedulesContinue reading “The Sights and Sounds of Wrigley Field”
A Facebook Doctor Who Survey
Over the weekend a Doctor Who preferences survey wormed its way around Facebook — what do you like, what don’t you like, what’s overrated, what’s underrated. Seemed like fun. Here are my answers, and if you have comments on any of my choices, leave them at the bottom — DOCTOR WHO SURVEY FAVOURITE TV DOCTOR:Continue reading “A Facebook Doctor Who Survey”