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Anyone knows who were behind June Evenings? There is the one song I am aware of, just one… called “I Wasted All My Wishes On You” and as you might notice it is really great. Problem is that even though it rings a bell to me, I can’t remember anything about them. My thinking is that it is not an old song. Not older than 15 years at least. Has …

In 2006, a high school student from Ontario named James Hobson started posting to a new platform called YouTube. His early videos were meant for his friends, and focused on hobbies (like parkour) and silliness (like one clip in which he drinks a cup of raw eggs). Hobson’s relationship with YouTube evolved in 2013. Now a trained engineer, he put his skills to work in crafting a pair of metal …

The fourth volume of Fantology is probably the weakest volume overall, but there's still plenty of interesting material in there. A lot of it felt strangely rushed; there were numerous spelling errors and the margins were so tight that I couldn't read some of the stuff toward the middle. Some of the pieces were so sloppy that I was surprised they were published, and the sequencing of the stories also …

. . . to walk alone in London is the greatest rest. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

It’s a New Year and I have plans of writing yearnotes, and liked the idea of making plans for the quarter, but then I remember I still can’t write weekly notes and its already the 12th of January, so I should accept who I am, get out of my own way and write a note already. I’ll just go backwards in time until we have enough content. I bought Rina …

Session 6 was played on 9/12Io the thiefGizzard Wannabe the WizardTheiss of Gond, clericTiptoe the thiefBoots the rangerAmnyuthist the halflingThe party hires Garwood and Kask and head back to the swamp, aiming to finish off the lizarmen mound. On the way, they meet a dozen warriors headed to the keep. They’d just come from the mound, and report that they’ve looted and burned it. The 2 groups continue on their …

I have mentioned both here and on the podcast that I worked at Suncoast Motion Picture Company for many years. Not to brag, but I was Employee of the Month countless times, and I have pins to prove it.When I would mention Suncoast to people, they didn’t always know what I was talking about. Suncoast had lots of locations in malls across North America and the company existed during the …

Hawkworld (Originally called Hawkman Winged Warrior) First Group Banner by Joe Prado January 15, 2025 is the Nth anniversary of Hawkworld! I started Hawkworld on Facebook back in 2016 and what a ride it has been. When I was a kid reading comics, I sent out a few letters to the comics, but my letters were never published. I could only dream about interacting with the creators of the characters …

I always feel a little bit of pressure at the start of the year as I have such a desire to kick off the year with some great reads. As if this sets the tone for the year. I’m nothing if not irrational! Last year, my first book was a low little singular star. It… Continue reading First Books of the Year

[sonic] Go listen to this Ska Version of Sonic The Hedgehog’s Green Hill Zone Theme …

On Saturday, I got into a stupid little spat with Wendy. We tentatively planned she would meet me at my place, and from there we would head to a 5:45 dinner reservation together. By 5:35 I was walking out my door and wondering where she was. I wouldn't normally care, knowing at least she would be on her way... In this specific case, however, I was going to pay at …

This project stated with the broad question of "How long did mid-Victorian clothing last?" (and it's reenacting corollary: "Can one justify wear a dress with specifically 1840s style elements at an event set in the 1850s, 1860s, or later by pretending to be old, poor, or rural?"). I've since come to realize it's really a series of related questions encompassing among other things:How frequently are dresses (or clothing more generally) …

The weight loss drug Semaglutide, variously marketed as Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy and Rybelsus, has been much in the headlines recently. Many showbiz celebrities, and indeed some leading politicians, are rumoured to have been using it to control their weight. While it isn’t generally available via the NHS, it has been prescribed for certain specific conditions, and more and more people away from the public eye seem to be getting hold …

In the previous post, I looked at this chart that shows the distributions of four subgroups found in a dataset: This chart takes quite some effort to decipher, as does another version I featured. The key messages appear to be: (i) most English words are of Germanic origin, (ii) the most popular English words are even more skewed towards Germanic origin, (iii) words of French origin started showing up around …

The house was at the end of a long, winding road through the country, and it took Erin almost three hours to get there. When she pulled up on the expanse of gravel in front of the imposing entrance, there was one vehicle already parked there, with its owner standing nearby. The solicitor who was acting as executor of her late aunt’s estate was dressed conservatively, and bundled up against …