This week the new trailer for November’s Peanuts trailer was released: In November, I wrote about the first trailer, and in the days since the new trailer was released I’ve left a few comments here and there. Why don’t I share my thoughts on the new trailer here? My read on the trailer is thatContinue reading “The New Peanuts Movie Trailer”
Charleston and Empathy
I feel that I need to say something about the act of domestic terrorism that happened in Charleston, South Carolina yesterday evening. I use the term “domestic terrorism” deliberately. A man went into a church, sat with twelve people for an hour, and murdered nine of them, reloading his weapon, according to a surviving witness,Continue reading “Charleston and Empathy”
Buying Harrisburg Senators Baseball Cards
Today I bought baseball cards. I was in Harrisburg today for the Senators game, and it was steamy — 90-plus degrees and 1500% humidity. I’m not exaggerating on the humidity. A sauna would have been less moist than City Island today. The Senators were playing the Trenton Thunder today. I noted on Twitter… The lastContinue reading “Buying Harrisburg Senators Baseball Cards”
Things I’ve Been Watching: The Oranges
There’s a reason why a movie is on the DVD rack at Big Lots for three dollars. There’s a high probability that it’s not very good. The movie in question was The Oranges, a 2011 film starring Hugh Laurie, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, and Leighton Meester. Laurie and his wife (Catherine Keener) live across theContinue reading “Things I’ve Been Watching: The Oranges”
Uncovering the Story of a Lost Church
There’s a website (and Twitter feed) that I like to follow called Ghosts of DC. It posts articles and pictures of Washington, DC as it was decades ago, from the wood etchings era of the early 1800s to the dawn of photography a few decades later to color photography in the 1950s. It’s fascinating toContinue reading “Uncovering the Story of a Lost Church”
Making Spacescapes
For no particular reason, I wanted to make a spacescape. I have graphics editing software (specifically, the GIMP), and I was sure there was a tutorial online somewhere. Google was my friend, and within two minutes I had an article that fit my needs — How to Create Space Scenes Quickly and Easily in Gimp.Continue reading “Making Spacescapes”
Things I’ve Been Reading: Batman Adventures Volume 2
Batman Adventures Volume 2 DC Comics Written by Kelley Puckett Art by Mike Parobeck and Rich Burchett If you were to ask me who my three favorite Batman artists were, you could make a decent guess at my age. Or at least, when I was really reading comic books. Those three artists would be JimContinue reading “Things I’ve Been Reading: Batman Adventures Volume 2”
Lost Scenes from a Doctor Who Story
I found something unexpected on my hard drive yesterday, working scenes from my first draft of “The Spindle of Necessity.” “Spindle,” as you may know, is a Doctor Who story I wrote for a Big Finish Short Trips anthology in the spring of 2007 in which the sixth Doctor goes on an adventure with theContinue reading “Lost Scenes from a Doctor Who Story”
Jeb Bush and Reckoning with the Iraq War
Now that the Iraq War — and why it happened — has been put back on the radar thanks to Jeb Bush, we need to keep an important fact in mind about how it happened. The whole “if we knew then what we know now” formulation that various Republicans are trying to flaot is besideContinue reading “Jeb Bush and Reckoning with the Iraq War”
Francis Scott Key and the War of 1812: Diane Carey’s novel Banners
Over the past few days, I read Diane Carey’s Banners, a novel about the War of 1812, published last year by Koehlerbooks, presumably to commemorate the 200th-anniversary of the attack on Fort McHenry and the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Last night I finished the book. Carey was a prolific Star Trek novelist, publishing twoContinue reading “Francis Scott Key and the War of 1812: Diane Carey’s novel Banners”