Entertainment is ultimately a most human endeavor! We love to be entertained whether it’s a catchy song on the radio, a book you can’t put down, a sitcom that makes you smile, or the exploits of a science fiction hero. These are the entertainment subjects that make me sit down and enjoy myself and odds are if you’ve come here to read these essays, you love some of the same subjects that I do!
I particularly love music as a whole. I love the beat, the rhythm, and the lyrics. And music has very much been a timestamp for my life. I can hear something from when I was in college, and I’m there again. I can remember some moment, maybe friends who enjoyed the same song or artist. I’m amazed at how much emotion can be tied in a song, both that of the songwriter as well as what the listener brings.
I love all most Genres of TV, Movies, and literature, but as you’ll see I’m especially into science fiction and fantasy. From superheroes to time travelers, I’m game to give most fiction in this wide category a try.
Hope you enjoy these short essays on entertainment topics that I love and I hope you’ll share your thoughts, too.
I mentioned in a past post that I tended to shy away from storylines I knew were painful. This was especially true if there were queer characters but it was pretty true across the board. If a movie, TV show, or book promised pain, I was hesitant. Where are my happily ever after stories? Mind…
I kept thinking I would sit down and write about my thoughts on Queer As Folk again before reaching the actual conclusion but it never happened. It’s been a roller coaster. It’s Feb 8th and I started watching the series about the beginning of December. So five seasons in just over two months. I could…
Okay, if you haven’t seen All Of Us Strangers don’t read this first. See the movie when you can. Gay or straight I think there’s something for you in this film. If you keep reading after this then you are spoiling it for yourself… I had seen the previews for this film and kept hearing…
This might seem to be an odd pairing of queer movies. And truthfully I’m combining them more because I don’t think I have enough to say about either movie for a solo article. Both are films I watched in the latter months of 2023. If you haven’t watched Nuovo Olimpo or Aristotle and Dante Discover…
While not one of the great mysteries of life, I’ve had a 90’s Album that off and on over the years, I’ve wondered about the band that recorded it. You see, despite having their album Land of Steady Habits, I had never heard of Big Train. I’m not sure exactly what year but probably either…
My how times change. There was a time when I would have pre-ordered any album coming from RCPM (Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers). It would have been waiting in the mailbox as close to the day it came out as possible. They are, after all, the only band that I’ve followed to out of state…
Sometimes the musical connections I make are pretty unusual. I have my share of bands I discovered by overhearing them on my travels, but I think The Stagger Rats may be the first I found based on travel daydreams! I have long wanted to go to see Up Helly Aa, a yearly fire festival in…
I haven’t been a heavy movie goer since leaving Atlanta. I could probably count the movies I’ve seen since 2009 if I sat down and thought about it a little. When there was a theater down the street, it was a no-brainer. Now I have to gear myself up and convince myself that it’s worth…
Ugh, I spent the past few days battling what was either food poisoning or a side-effect of Zyrtec. I’m not sure which it was but I wish it on no one. Oh well, not a friend anyway. Ha! Anyway, in the midst of that, I sat up and watched the finale to Series 7 of…
Ah, don’t you love inter-generational rivalry? My music/clothes/cars/whatever-else-you-have trumps yours! If there’s anything that’s fair game it’s that whatever is new is always crap compared to my generation! And as sure as you roll your eyes when someone says it about the things you like today, given time, you’ll probably utter a similar treatise on…
I can’t believe how fast these half series of Doctor Who are over. I’d truly rather get it all in one dose, but no one at the BBC asked me. And I’ve been too wrapped up getting my Ireland art uploaded on my account on Fine Art America to post any of my thoughts about…
I’ve tried to like Spotify, and I suppose as a service where I can listen to new music – i.e. try before buying, it works but beyond that I don’t understand what the fuss is all about. I find it about as user friendly as a rash. Half the time when I listen to music…
As many years as I’ve blogged (off and on, not consistently I fear), it’s amazing to me some time to look back on memories that I was sure I blogged and discover, nope I didn’t. It’s like my memories are somehow now in text form even if they aren’t?! Take today, I was reminded of…
One of the few things I miss about my old place in the suburbia of Atlanta is that in my old townhouse, I was literally 5 minutes from the seats of an 18 screen cinema. Not five minutes to the door or the parking lot, but to sitting and waiting for the movie to start….
The end of an era, the end of Smallville. It’s funny actually, the entire first season of Smallville had passed before I watched the first episode. The second season was underway already! Partly work was to blame, but mostly I had written the show off without seeing it. It was basically Dawson’s Creek mixed with…
I suppose now is as good a time as ever to revive my poor old personal blog. Those who are all about the pictures and the oh-so-glamorous travel should pop over to those respective blogs, but I hope some friends (old and dear and possibly new) will enjoy some of the meanderings of my brain….
While I am not a massive poetry person, this particular (well known) poem has always been one of my favorites. Robert Frost (1874 – 1963). Mountain Interval. 1920. The Road Not Taken TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked…
A favorite childhood book of mine was Mr. Pine’s Purple House. Although I remember quite a few childhood books fondly, this is one that I think still speaks to me today. The gist of the story was that Mr. Pine lived amongst a group of houses that all looked alike. He wanted his home to…
I’ve documented elsewhere that I recently went all digital. All my music is now in the form of ephemeral bits and bytes on my hard drive (and backed up elsewhere). And my three shelves of CDs have been compressed down to a couple of binders. Although a freeing experience, I’m still dealing with the effects…
Despite the tons of pictures I still have to go through from the Egypt trip, the weekend found me continuing my spring cleaning. I had a closet with two stacks of comics to file. I won’t say how long I had put this task off but it’s not a short time. I began sorting everything…
First, I have to explain, because many may have no idea that my favorite band is a little band from Tempe, Arizona. Roger Clyne led a band in the mid 90’s under the name, The Refreshments. They had one big hit that most people who listened to music at the time would recognize if they…
I spent the day doing some website maintenance. Funny, I thought I was going to do some house cleaning. Coincidence or procrastination? Hmmm…. Anyway, while I was chained to the laptop, I finally caught up to the latest podcast at Have You Heard – a fairly new but swift growing local podcast. The folks doing…
The last few days in Egypt, I had a cough, which was particularly rough when we got back to the smog of Cairo. I thought the smog was what started things, but as I looked back, it started before we returned to Cairo. Still, when I got back, it did improve (so was likely worsened…
I guess I started down this path in the last year. As part of my continual paring down of the material things in my life, I sat down with a box of old cassette tapes (oh horrors) and copied them to MP3. Most of them, some had degraded too much to save. I didn’t have…
A few weeks ago, I sat in a theater and watched a trailer for a film called Stardust, and I resolved to see it for a very silly reason. Granted much that is good has stood on nonsensical ground, my grounds were that much of the on location photography was filmed in beautiful Scotland. Much…
Exausted but well pleased! Deramtologist visit this afternoon in Buckhead area and then loitering about as long as I could before wandering down to Vinyl to catch The Automatic in their last US show before going back to the UK to continue touring. The opening act, Modern Society, was pretty good. I think more of…
If you didn’t guess from the “soundtrack to life” title – this is all about nostalgia. You see, I’m in another one of my now infamous purge modes. For the uninitiated, I have a tendency to be somewhat of a pack rat, but off and on through my life, as far back as I can…
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers rolled through town Tuesday night. As always, the concert was incredible. I saw friends from past shows, met more fans, and
Decent day. Got a good bit of work-work accomplished. Wheeee! It’s paying the bills at least! The day started with physical therapy and,
Today’s title brought to us by the letter R is just my nutso way of saying that there will be a cacophony of topics ahead. A little of everything and little of value to world peace. Does the World Need Superman? Friday night, I met up with some friends, Chris and Dan, to catch Superman…
So the reading list has been sparse lately as I’ve been waiting for the first shipment of comics via mail since the last pick-up from Chris. In the interim, however, I’ve had time to work on some of the trades, etc. that have been waiting my attention. Maybe as long as a year ago, DC…
Over the weekend, I had a little, mind you only a little, time to read. Instead of the piles of comics, I decided to pick up a graphic novel from Oni Press that I bought based on a blurb in previews. As it turns out, it was well worth it. Off Road is cleverly written…
Tonight, I finished the final entry in the Starman series of trade paperbacks. I’m at a loss. I’d been anxiously awaiting the last trade to show up at the shop. It did last week. I had dinner with a friend, so I didn’t make it by tonight to see this week’s haul. It’s a good…
Have been experimenting with Photoshop the past few days. Some stuff was just fun. Other stuff I felt like I turned out some pretty good work. And the best thing even if no one else agrees, I had fun doing it. If some of it actually defies logic and sells, then all the better. Do…
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