With the end of yet another semester upon us, I’d like to give a little gift to all my teacher friends…and all those they teach.
End of Semester Blues
Month: November 2018
Review: Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven
FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book had such potential.
The basic premise, that a storm wipes out contact with the skeleton crew of a Disney-esque amusement park, who then revert to literal tribalism and savagery fits in well with today’s YS dystopias and the tagline of “Lord of the Flies” meets “Battle Royale” is fairly accurate. Continue reading “Review: Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven”
A few important rules to teach your daughters*
I stole this list from my friend Steve, who is the father of two girls and a boy. It’s a good place to start. I might add more as I learn more or delete some which I disagree with as time goes on. I might even change the order of importance as Monki comes into her own, but it’s certainly a place to at least open the discussions. Continue reading “A few important rules to teach your daughters*”
Alice by Christina Henry
Alice by Christina Henry
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Okay…not sure how to talk about this.
First, the biggest problem is the characters are never in any real danger, they defeat the enemies much too easily and there’s never anything at stake beyond physical harm, which, as stated, was never going to be a thing. There’s no depth to Alice and when we finally get Hatcher’s backstory, it doesn’t affect him in the present. Continue reading “Alice by Christina Henry”
Stan Lee (1922-2018)
Well, True Believers, the time finally came. a month before his 96th birthday, Stan Lee passed away. Down the Tubes has a couple of nice pieces: In Memorium by Alan Woollcombe and Tim Quinn’s piece “How to be a Hero.” Both of these pieces, as well as many others, recount Lee’s history, his start as a teenager working for Timely Comics (which became Marvel), and how he, as no one else ever had, came to personify the field and the artform. Buzz Dixon, in particular, speaks of the man and his problematic relationship with the industry Continue reading “Stan Lee (1922-2018)”
How Lithuania embraced pop culture – NYLA
A few weeks back, I attended Comic-Con Baltics, a relatively new pop culture convention here in Lithuania. I was there at the behest of Nanook and their NYLA podcast to talk about How Lithuania embraced pop culture. Continue reading “How Lithuania embraced pop culture – NYLA”
How Do You Say the Plural Form of ‘Octopus’?
Is it octopuses, octopi, or octopodes?
Source: How Do You Say the Plural Form of ‘Octopus’? | Mental Floss
These Maps Reveal the Hidden Structures of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Books – Atlas Obscura
I’ve long been fascinated by Choose Your Own Adventure books. For a long time, I had, if not the complete run, almost all of them. I even have a few ideas to write and update them for the 21st century, but the structure of them has always been a mystery (despite some interesting articles on how to write them). Now, thanks to Atlas Obscura, that’s been sorted. With the article These Maps Reveal the Hidden Structures of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Books anyone can make sense of how these books are put together. Maybe in 2019, I’ll get around to writing one…or two.
November 1 – National Author’s Day
So evidently, today, November 1, is NATIONAL AUTHOR’S DAY. While I didn’t even know that was a thing, I’m totally down with celebrating it! So in honor of all my friends who are writers already and those who aspire. Those who are starting NaNoWriMo today and those who write daily, I salute you all! Continue reading “November 1 – National Author’s Day”
