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Following up from my previous posts (Part 1, part 2) , I'm headed back into the realm of my own observations. PART 5: GET THIS SHIT OUT OF MY DRAFT DOC** Observation: Wraiths, Vengeful Spirits, and HexesThis is just one of those weird minor things where the pieces have fit together somewhat nicely (how about that for a change?)“Wraith” is used only three times in the corpus, in the descriptions …

There’s far too much going on in this winter photo of the Avon river. A background of trees in haze, then a bridge with vehicles. Closer, more skeletal trees against reflected ripples on the water of a river. Across it, just visible behind blurred briars and wood smoke that drifts across the whole scene, cuts a racing boat with eight – nine? – rowers. The colours are weird: blues and …

Speaking of Mark Zuckerberg, Nick Heer did an excellent job compiling a series of news stories on Facebook Meta’s “free speech” changes that demonstrate the cruelty is the point: If anybody is still committed to the idea that Meta changed its policies for principled speech reasons, this ought to shatter that belief. It created explicit carve-outs to permit discriminatory speech based on gender and sexual orientation, and Meta — as …

India's POEM-4 has successfully germinated cowpeas in space, and is also growing spinach tissue.

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 …

. . . 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) …