Microsoft Flight Simulator Adventures Well, this was interesting . . . On Monday Reba “Immaculate” Jones, (A.K.A. me, that is to say, I) flew from SAWL on Tierra del Fuego to SAYB at Argentina’s Antarctic Base Belgrano II, one of the two Flight Sim airstrips in Antarctica, to be in position to try for the South Pole today, … Continue reading South Pole Attempt
Category: Commentary
Not reviews
Low Impact NaNoWriMo
This year I changed my approach to NaNoWriMo, hoping to remove any remaining stress and end with a proper collection of rough draft words.
My Plan for Releasing Projects
During this year’s NaNoWriMo I conceived a plan for releasing my writing projects, and now I’m working out how to put this plan into effect. Essentially, it is this: Use Dr.Occulari as my pen name.Release everything under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license (Redistribution and derivative works are OK as long as you attribute the original … Continue reading My Plan for Releasing Projects
Dude, I Just Watched Lucy
I usually don’t give numerical ratings, but they’re a handy way to show my polar-opposites reaction to Lucy. I give it 2/5 if I’m watching a movie that takes the cringe-worthy 10% of your brain premiss seriously. Early on I involuntarily looked away from the screen, too embarrassed to watch, while Morgan Freeman speaks inanities … Continue reading Dude, I Just Watched Lucy
Hey, it was My Birthday
My birthday was yesterday, July 14th, also Bastille Day. These are the highlights of my 64th birthday. Generally, I don't celebrate birthdays, but thanks to internet commerce, I did two significant things today: one silly, one profound. Try and guess which is which.Marco's Pizza; the local franchise is two blocks away; sent me an email birthday … Continue reading Hey, it was My Birthday
Genies, Botnets, and State Security, Oh my!
I just finished reading a wonderful new book, Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson. It takes place in a fictional contemporary Arab emirate that's on the boiling point of the Arab Spring. Alif is a young guy, a hacker, who makes a shady, but honorable living hiding his clients'---bloggers of every subversive type: Islamists, … Continue reading Genies, Botnets, and State Security, Oh my!
On Originality
I like to work under the illusion that my ideas are original. Really though, I assume many people have had the same ideas, and I assume some of them have already done something with them, but I doubt they used them to tell the exact same story I'm telling, and most certainly not in the … Continue reading On Originality
Never Let Me Go. Kazuo Ishiguro, How Could You?
Movies based on good books, even when they are themselves good, are never more than shadows of the original work.I bought and downloaded the Kindle version of Never Let Me Go, and read it over the weekend, finishing it Tuesday morning. My reaction was even stronger than to the movie. I put the book down … Continue reading Never Let Me Go. Kazuo Ishiguro, How Could You?
Never Let Me Go, the Movie
Three days ago, I watched the movie, Never Let Me Go, based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It tore at me. When it was over, I didn't know what to do. I was sure I had missed things, important things. Maybe if I watched it again I could sort it out. I didn't trust … Continue reading Never Let Me Go, the Movie
The Author Who Fell From Grace With the Mob
One of the latest Internet viral have-you-seens is the author who had a comment meltdown on a book reviewer's blog after he reviewed her book. (You can Google for it if you want.) I thought it was a fair review, even generous. Her reaction was insane, irrational, and out-of-place doesn't even begin to describe how … Continue reading The Author Who Fell From Grace With the Mob
Sekret Lab No. 2 