Perhaps the clock is broken

If it's noon and it's dark, then that is one possibility.  Or a solar eclipse provides some level of darkness.  Or you've fallen down a mining shaft.  Or maybe the easiest one - closed eyes while indoors... perhaps in a closet to add that extra touch of real inky blackness at noontime?

But none of these refer specifically to the reasoning behind today's book review book title.  Darkness at Noon is a work darkly satirizing the Great Terror of 1930s Soviet Russia.  Calling it "satire" is almost like calling one of Stalin's show trials during the purges "a little legal difficulty."  It doesn't do the term justice, nor cover the scope involved.

Anyway, read the review for yourself and see what I mean.

Book Review: Darkness at Noon



I've posted one of these Monty Python skits before, but this one is slightly different.  Either way, poking fun at the pillars of Communist dogma always makes me grin.

Say it, but say it QUIETLY

Happy Birthday to me.

Book Review: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

It has nothing to do with either my birthday or the book review.  But man, I'd like to play this on an old-skool Nintendo emulator.

Source: LOLSnaps.com

It was a almost a coin toss

Deciding whether this post should be included in my book reviews or in my Op-Ed section was the toss, I mean.  I decided on the former, even though this is really a hybrid of the two.  As I note in the first paragraph of the actual post, I don't "review" other peoples' religious texts.  But making it an Op-Ed makes it sound like I'm passing judgement.  In truth, I simply wanted to share what I learned myself.  As my reviews are opinion pieces in and of themselves - as anyone who has read one knows - I suppose that establishes the link of semi-credibility for calling this a hybrid.

Again, if you take any offense to my words on this book, then please know I did so without malice aforethought.  I try to respect all religions.  Until God comes down and say to all of us directly and without nuance "THIS IS THE WAY," then how a person views Deity is a very personal thing, and you can disagree but mocking other peoples faith is silly and provincial.  Sure, it's also funny from time to time, if you can have a sense of humor about your faith.  But that's not the track I'm taking here.

Sadly, I feel that I've got to say such disclaimer-type things when people who speak out against the Islamic faith in any way get shot (such as the terrorist attack in France) and even people in predominantly Islamic countries get flogged for voicing their feelings (the Saudi blogger who people kept volunteering to take lashes for).  And that is sad.  If people of my own particular faith did that whenever someone got mouthy, we'd be going against what our religion teaches.  But then so do people who use rampant violence to enforce Islam, I think, if I understood the text correctly.  You be the judge.

The Quran - Some Thoughts

The Suadi blogger mentioned above, Raif Badawi.  Here is a link to a CNN story about Mr. Badawi, if you missed some of the details.  Source: BBC.com

Putting a dose of science and a smidge of sci-fi in your day

It is only day twenty-two in the month of February, and I've already posted twenty-five book reviews alone.  I'd say February is shaping up to be a big catch up month for backlog, as well as for a touch of new stuff.

Book Review: Physics of the Future

Book Review: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Book Review: Triplanetary

Math... Friend to science.  Sticking point for so many others. / Source: LOLSnaps.com

Full of martial spirit and strategy

Five books with a similar theme today.  I even tried to put them in some semblence of logical order.

Book Review: Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda

Book Review: The Hundred Years' War

Book Review: Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story

Book Review: Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory

Book Review: How Great Generals Win

Source: strategypage.com

Source: strategypage.com



Source: strategypage.com

What's an antonym for "Merchandise?"

Another recent read.  I finished this rather abbreviated Star Wars novel, wrote review notes, and only a week or so after I began reading the thing, it's up on the blog.

Book Review: Hard Merchandise

Oh, and happy Lunar New Year!  I don't know what that is, but have a happy one anyway.

Source: vankaos.com

Claude to his homies

I'm talking about the emperor Claudius, who is the titular character of the book reviewed this time around.  Sadly, the thing I recall off the top of my head about this book, seeing as it has been some time since I actually read it, is sitting in the drive-thru line at Arby's, waiting to get a bite to eat, and listening to the scene in which Roman prisoners are in the wicker man effigy.  I don't know what's worse.  Listening to fictional people begging for their lives before being burned to death, or the price of Arby's food vs. what you get for your money.  Probably the former, but I still recall the whole situation distastefully.

Book Review: Claudius

But to lighten the mood, here is some Twelve Tasks of Asterix.  It's a cartoon that depicts the constant struggle between the Gauls and the Romans, with a humorous take on it.  In this particular movie, our heroes Asterix and Obelix have been challenged by Julius Caesar to complete twelve tasks and prove that they are gods, and by so doing, Rome will stop bothering them and leave them in peace.  The scene here is one of those tasks.  I didn't truly get it, as a kid when I first saw this, but having experienced bureaucracy as an adult...  Oi vey.

Isn't his birthday coming up?

Or did it just pass?  I can't remember if it's Lincoln whose birthday comes first, or Washington's.  Hey, does anybody remember when we used to get BOTH days off?  I do.  Sorta.  I was pretty young.  It was the '80s.  Ah, the '80s.  How I miss certain aspects of that decade.  Especially the TV.  TV was great in the '80s.

Book Review: Washington - A Life

In honor of President's Day, here is a group of 44 presidential impressions from Youtube semi-celebrity Mikey Bolts.  There are some bleeped out words in this, and sure, some of his impressions aren't very good, but a few are quite funny.  I like George W Bush, Richard Nixon, Franklin Roosevelt ("that rhymes with my middle name"), Calvin Coolidge, William Taft ("big, busty hips"), James A Garfield and Rutherford B Hayes ("the guy after me totally stole the beard thing!"), and Andrew Johnson.

Things a good host should do?

Not criticize guests who don't wipe their feet, remember everyone's name, allow the guest to dominate the planet through subtle invasion-of-the-body-snatcher-style tactics...

Dual Review: The Host (book and movie)

And in the category of young adult fiction-based films you MUST see, here's The Group Hopper.  Yes, I realize the link between this and The Host is tenuous.  So sue me.

The Group Hopper

Couldn't figure out Hulu's embed code thingie.  So you just have to go there.  Sorry.

Even bad opinions are still opinions

Posted my first Op-Ed piece today.  It's been on the workbench, like almost all of my writings, for some time.  And it's a pointless and long-winded rant on video games, so most of my audience will skip it (the two of you reading this will have to decide between you which of you will read a paragraph or two, and which will pass by entirely).  On the other hand, if you are curious about me as a person, there is much there that sheds light, so to speak.  Might be worth a look.

Op-Ed: Why I Don't Own a "Current-Gen" Video Game Console.


The computerized version of Van Halen's "Right Now" can turn you a trifle deaf, but the nice use of that band's classic music video, turned to video game tropes, is great.

Sports! Sports, I tell ya!

After a couple of days in a row of posts with exclamations in their titles, I decided to try to go three in a row.  I promise my next entry will be exclamation-less.

Book Review: When the Game Was Ours

And on a totally unrelated note, here is a pretty talented bunch of folks all playing one guitar and covering Gotye's, "Somebody That I Used to Know."

Fight the Grim Reaper!

Aging.  It gets us all eventually.  And some say it is due to free radicals.  Personally, I think "free radical" sounds like some sort of rock band, or a terrorist organization from an '80s action movie.  But no, its an actual thing.

Source: jeunesseantiaging.wordpress.com

But the subject of today's book review is not antioxidants.  Far from it.  It's a story by an independent author that is really quite good.  And it's...  hold your breath... based on a classic computer video game.  Yes, that often spells death for any form of entertainment that isn't in fact a video game/video game sequel (movies based on video games, I'm looking your way).  But in this instance, the story is actually pretty good stuff.  Check it out at the link below.

Book Review: Free Radical

A Cold War extravaganza!

In my ongoing effort to get a lot of my previous reviews off the desk and into the blog, here is a collection of Cold War era-related book reviews.

Book Review: A Short History of the Korean War

Book Review: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism

Book Review: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Book Review: Khrushchev: The Man and His Era

Book Review: Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb


Even hamburgers joints got into the Soviet system bashing during the Cold War.  I remember this commercial.  Guess that dates me.

She's an interesting woman

My wife is.  Not stereotypical by any means.  For instance, on a rare Friday afternoon together that we had a couple weeks back, she rented a pair of movies from Redbox.  The following reviewed film was one of them. 

Now I'd not have pegged her for such a film.  But then I underestimate her on a regular basis.  The other movie rented, some semi-romantic comedy period piece by Woody Allen (the title of which I forget, but it had Collin Firth and Emma Stone in it) seems more her speed.  But truth be told, I usually pick poorly if I rent something with her in mind, unless I've specifically heard her say "I want to see such-and-such." 

Oh well.  Fourteen years or so of marriage, and she still manages to surprise me.  Was it a good surprise?  Read on.

Movie Review: We're the Millers

Source: Wikipedia.org

In very particular order

I'm going to post my reviews for the first three Odd Thomas series of books, by Dean Koontz.  I have listed them below in a specific order for your consumption.  Yes, I know it isn't the order the books naturally fall into.  There's a reason for that.  If you read them like I have them listed here, you'll see why I did what I did.

Book Review: Brother Odd

Book Review: Odd Thomas: A Novel

Book Review: Forever Odd

Source: wordcredible.com

You know you're doing something wrong when you start reading a book and you feel... well, like the person's countenance above describes.  "OK...  I get it.  He's a super-spy.  But why does he wear a duck on his head?  Did I miss something important?  Does my copy of the book not have the first chapter in it, and I just didn't notice?  What's going on here?  Why is he speaking in Greek to Japanese people?  I'm a little lost here, but the story sure is interesting... I think."

Start of the title could be any typical Wednesday

Wednesday is my toughest day of the week, work-wise.  And yesterday was no exception.  Luckily, it's Thursday now.  A few more days and I get an actual day off from both jobs.  I could use it.

Book Review: No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy Seal: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

I had to include this book review because I just released a slew of movie reviews, and I mentioned this book in one of them.  I'm trying to fix continuity errors here, ya know.  It's gonna take awhile though.

On a totally unrelated note, my wife introduced me to this guy's humor last evening, and he is pretty funny.  Pretty clean for the most part too.  I especially got a kick out of his bit about being a Nintendo doctor when he was a kid, but I couldn't find a clip of that by itself.

Dusting off the proverbial video shelf

Here are the rest of the big pile of movie reviews from the past couple years that I've been dragging my feet on.  I finally finished sprucing them up, and decided to dump the whole lot on here at once.  So... enjoy!

Movie Review: The Wolverine

Movie Review: Transcendence

Movie Review: Zero Dark Thirty

Movie Review: World War Z

Movie Review: Captain Phillips

Movie Review: 47 Ronin

Movie Review: Warm Bodies

Movie Review: The Monuments Men

Movie Review: The Lone Ranger

Movie Review: Lone Survivor

Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Movie Review: The Internship

Movie Review: Thor - The Dark World

Source: jantoo.com

February is presidential, after all.

And so I decided to post this review of a book on a president who is rarely remembered.  Also, I'm feeling quiet lately myself, and "Silent Cal" would fit as a role-model for that.  Say little, and mean what you do say.

Book Review: Coolidge, An American Enigma

Source: political-humor.org

Crime AND Punishment?

Can't we just have one or the other?

Book Review: Crime and Punishment



Source: tumblr.net