Category: Reviews

Reviews of books, movies, tv shows and other items

A Murder of Manatees by Larry Correia – A Science Fiction Book Review

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As noted earlier, Larry Correia has published a second installment of his Tom Stranger stories (A Murder of Manatees: The Further Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent[Audiobook] By: Larry Correia, Adam Baldwin, Audible Studios Sold By: Audible).

I have to admit.  This is a guilty pleasure.  The stories, such as they are, border on the ridiculous.  The plot is just an excuse to allow Tom Stranger and his friends and enemies to interact in an adventure that resembles science fiction in the same way that the old 1960s Batman tv series resembles Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies.

But I don’t care.  It’s fun.  Correia fills his little two-hour audiobook with good natured jabs at himself, modern politics, culture and the conventions of pulp science fiction.  There’s never any doubt that Tom and his associates will provide quality, excellent customer service and that the bad guys will get their comeuppance.

And we can also be assured that Adam Baldwin will continue to find ways of voice portraying whatever ridiculous characters Larry invents, no matter whether it’s a bubble gum snapping android from the Jersey Shore or a hard-tweeting U.S. President on the battle field of the Mar-a-Lago golf course.  Having only previously known Adam Baldwin’s acting skills from Full Metal Jacket, Firefly and Chuck I wasn’t prepared for his wonderfully hammy touch to this kind of goofy material.  He absolutely makes the most of the story and its characters.

I just finished it today and I enjoyed every silly second of it.  Bravo Larry and bravo Adam.  I only wish there were more.  And what I really wish is that Hollywood would wake up and make the Monster Hunter saga into a movie series (either tv or big screen).  And I think Adam Baldwin would be a natural as Agent Franks.

But that’s a rant for another day.  Meanwhile if you like goofy tongue in cheek pulp sci-fi or you’re a fan of Larry Correia or Adam Baldwin then I highly recommend A Murder of Manatees.  You could think of plenty of worse ways to spend two hours.

Is the Alt-Lite Helping, Hurting or Neither?

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I was listening to the ZMan’s Friday Podcast today.  In one segment he raised the question whether people like Jordan Peterson helped or hurt the right-wing cause.  Peterson is a psychologist academic who is battling the politically correct behavior codes in Canada’s universities (and other areas of life).  He is a civic nationalist who does not espouse any ethnic nationalist leanings and in fact specifically rejects any white nationalism as the flip side of the identity politics on the left that he rejects.  ZMan concluded that for the most part the civic nationalists were a detriment.  This he said was because they tended to position themselves barely to the right of leftists.  And moreover, they were programmed to lose every fight.  Their only function was to register each new veer to the left with an ineffectual protest.  This response was their only function (other than being paid).

I found this interesting from a few different angles.  First off did I agree with this analysis?  Secondly was I in the same compromised position?  Was I my own enemy?!!!

I’ll address this question first.  I think the answer is no for two reasons. First and most importantly, I haven’t changed my opinions over time to keep up with the changing societal position.  My moral and social point of view hasn’t shifted to the left, over time.  If anything, it has moved to the right.  For that reason, I am safe from the charge of being a right guard of the left wing.  The question of mercenary status is easily answered by my lack of any site monetization.  Check and check.

So back to the first question, do I agree with his evaluation?  I do agree that there are lots of shills.  There seem to be a number of guys doing their act to collect pennies.  This actually doesn’t bother me.  We all have to make a living.  But what is more important is the claim that these guys are just barely staying to the right edge of the leftists and that they maintain this position by constantly shifting leftward over time.  Well, I don’t know.  Some of these guys are not so much moving left as much as they started in the center and seem to be gravitating rightward bit by bit as the Trump train rolls along.  In that case, I guess I give them the benefit of the doubt.  The folks the ZMan seems to be describing are the never-Trumpers.  This includes guys like Jonah Goldberg, Bill Kristol and Kevin Williamson.  These were folks who were willing to embrace Hillary Clinton rather than deal with Donald Trump.  To me that’s the kind of position that precludes being an actual conservative.  At least with Trump you had some chance of saving the country.  But are there any never-Trumpers in the Alt-Lite?  If anyone knows any let me know.  I’d like to look them up and see if the ZMan had this thing right or not.

So conditionally, I’m gonna say that the Alt-Lite ranges from neutral to helpful.  Some of them are moving along to a useful supportive position that reinforces the appeal of the movement to include some of the slow-moving center.  And the worst are just parasites feeding off attention in the wake of the Trump Train.  And even that isn’t such a bad thing from my point of view since I’m even enjoying my piece of that action too.  After all Trump is now the greatest show on earth and what would the circus be without the vendors selling the popcorn, the program notes and souvenirs?

One Million B.C. – A Science Fiction Movie Review

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Turner Classic Movies is a mixed bag. They do play a lot of good old movies.  But then you have to endure Alec Baldwin or Tina Fey talking to the insufferable host, Ben Mankiewicz about movies or anything else.  Well anyway, they’ve been playing a lot of old bad sci-fi movies lately.  It’s been great.  I’ll give my thoughts on them.  This is usually a combination of nostalgia and shock.  I’ve seen most of these movies before but in some cases I haven’t seen them in over fifty years.  Neither they nor I have aged well and so the re-acquaintance is sometimes off-putting to say the least.  Both these movies and my younger self have lost a lot of respect in my current eyes.  But today’s movie is a treat because I actually never saw this epic before.  And first off do not mistake this masterpiece for the sound alike “One Million Years BC” re-make with Raquel Welch.

This is the 1940 masterpiece with those two towering thespians Lon Chaney Jr. and Victor Mature. Honestly this movie should get a special award for unbelievably bad special effects.  But special effects is just the tip of the iceberg.  The cheesiness of the sets, the really bad acting and the silliness of the plot combine to create a feast of cinematic awfulness.  I loved it.

One of my favorite scenes has Victor Mature as caveman Tumak poking a seven foot tall miniature Tyrannosaurus rex in the stomach with his poorly made spear.  The monster is so obviously a man in a cloth suit that it’s hard not to burst out laughing, and actually I did.  Only slightly less silly are the real animals like dogs, goats, cows and even elephants covered in fake hair to make them “prehistoric-looking.”  Especially funny is the armadillo with horns glued onto its head.  It has been magnified to be the size of an elephant.  But it doesn’t seem to be doing anything particularly dangerous.  But the cavemen do look really scared of it.  Equally frightening to the cavemen are magnified images of modern day reptiles.  There are tegus and rhinoceros iguanas and even a baby alligator with a fake sailfish sail glued to its back.  One interesting historical circumstance is the fact that several of the reptiles are noticeably harmed by each other in some fight scenes including one tegu that is obviously killed in a fight with the fake sailfish alligator.  Nowadays the Humane Society would have the film-makers drawn and quartered for so much as stressing out a mosquito on set.  Progress!

But where the movie really shines is the portrayal of caveman tribal dynamics. Tumak is the son of the clan leader Akhoba (played by  Lon Chaney Jr).  When Tumak accidentally attacks Akhoba for trying to steal a chunk of dino-burger.  Akhoba throws him off a cliff.  After this he wanders away and ends up being adopted by a more enlightened clan.  They’re probably from Scandinavia because they have blondes, good table manners and neutered males.  After he gets ejected from the new tribe for beating a spear maker who objected to being robbed Tumak ends up back at the old clan cave with his blonde girlfriend in tow.  Apparently she likes the bad boy type and thinks she can fix him.  While Tumak was gone Akhoba has been demoted from chief to crippled loser after being severely injured in a fight with a giant goat.  Breaking with caveman etiquette Blondie institutes women and children and crippled losers first at food distribution time.  Surprisingly, Tumak is supportive of the new arrangement.  Progress!

Well anyway there soon ensues a crisis involving a volcanic eruption and a giant iguana that ends up with both clans coming together with Tumak as the new chief. The End.

Wow. This movie must be seen by all science fiction fans.  Afterwards you’ll have a new found respect for stop action animation or even well-made monster suits.  Only recommended if you really enjoy very bad sci-fi.

Scott Miller’s Appalachian Christmas – A Country Music Review

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Christmas Music in the Middle of February?  I know, what’s up with that?  So, I’m a slacker, so sue me.

Anyway this is an album of well known and not so well known Christmas songs.  It’s completely instrumental.  Lots of fiddle and mandolin.  I’ve actually been listening to it since before Christmas and even though it seems odd, it fits the dark winter nights very well.  Highly recommended.

Have My Say

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A few years ago, I was reading the forum posts of one of the bigger photography websites.  It was one of the forums that was supposed to deal with non-photographic discussions.  So here was where people could talk about the world at large.  Anyway, the discussion turned to gun control.  I read about ten pages of comments and what I noticed was that anti-gun folks outnumbered the pro-gun contingent by about fifty to one.  And this numerical advantage was used to good effect by preventing any of the anti-gun folks from having to complete any rational discussion of even their most outlandish statements.  Whenever it looked like a pro-gun point was about to be made the anti-gun crowd dog-piled their opponent and shifted the argument to some new attack point and the whole process began again.  Finally, when in exasperation the victim lost his temper and barked back at his attackers he was labeled as rabid and hateful and his comments were deleted and he was banned from the site.

 

It bothered me.  Now, I didn’t know any of the participants from Adam.  I had read their comments before and of course I had my own preferences on their opinions based on where I agreed or disagreed with them.  But this was different.  This was basically censorship.  You were not allowed to have certain opinions.  But that wasn’t a policy of the website.  At least not a published one.  It was an unwritten one.  Basically, it was a private club.  But only the members knew it.  Every one else was there at the tolerance of the club members.  And this club was very regimented.  There was an orthodoxy about politics, religion, sexual orientation, environmental policies, climate change, gun control, race relations and especially culture.  Any variance from these orthodoxies were handled in exactly the same way.  The offender was mobbed and silenced and if necessary banned.

 

Well needless to say I went out of my way to be evicted.  I waited for a topic that I was sure would trigger the mob and knowing that it was my last hurrah I went for the gusto.  I didn’t attempt logic or even anger.  I went straight for mockery and insult.  It was glorious.  Of course, it was deleted but not until a furor arose.  Surprisingly, I was told I could return if I apologized and recanted.  Hah.

 

Anyway, that’s why I built this website.  I wanted a place where I could talk about photography and science fiction and movies that I liked and if I wanted to talk about politics I didn’t have to worry about being banned.  I could have my say.  But what I also recognized is that I should let other people have their say too.  Now I don’t mean I have to allow trolls to trash a thread or allow them to tell everyone else what they can’t say.  But it does mean that everyone doesn’t have to agree.  Some of my readers hate Donald Trump.  Okay, fine.  If you want to say why, no problem, go ahead.  By the same token, I think the Clintons are criminal grifters who also happen to be Alinskyite radicals.  So we’re probably not gonna agree on politics.  But maybe we both like Sony mirrorless cameras or classic horror movies or hiking in the southwest deserts.  So, if we can agree to disagree then we can still talk about things we both enjoy.

 

So that’s how I see this site working.  Because of my political slant I’m gonna guess that it will mostly attract people of the same general political slant.  But based on some of the poll results I’ve seen there is a significant population of folks from the left side of the aisle.  I have no problem with that.  You can even have your say.  Just don’t be jerk about it.  And that goes for our side too.  No need to be a jerk.  Keep it decent.  No dog piling.  No ad hominems.  Just opinions and no trolling.  Life’s too short.

 

There, I had my say.

For Any Fans of Larry Correia’s Tom Stranger Audibook He’s Come Out With Another.

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Adam Baldwin (Firefly’s Jane Cobb and Chuck’s Colonel John Casey) narrates the continuing adventures of Tom Stranger, the most service oriented interdimensional insurance agent you’ll ever meet.   I’m a fan of Larry’s Monster Hunter series and I always like stuff that has Adam Baldwin in it.  And the fact that he’s right-wing guy doesn’t hurt either.

I haven’t listened this one yet but the first one was very entertaining, very funny.  And Adam does a very good job covering all the voices.  Of course I’d prefer if Baldwin could be playing one of Larry’s Monster Hunter characters (Agent Franks?) in a movie version.  But I’ll take what I can get.

So I don’t know if this second one would benefit from listening to the first one, first.  So I recommend getting them in order.

Tom Stranger 2: A Murder of Manatees AVAILABLE NOW!

My Favorite Show Last Night

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So I’ve repeatedly called the Trump presidency “the greatest show on earth.” Honestly, it really is.  I watched the President’s address.  My only objection was having to hear one or two minutes of Shep Smith yammering in the background before the broadcast.  But that faded out of my mind right away.  One of the first things that struck me was that President Trump was having a good time going through the ritual.  He shook hands with Pence and Ryan more than once before he got started.  He always added something at the end of a sentence to intensify or personalize what he was reading off the teleprompter.  He applauded all of his guests very vigorously and he seemed at certain points to be speaking directly to the Democratic Congress as if to chastise them for their lack of enthusiasm about undeniably patriotic and sympathetic topics.  At one point, his expression and his hand gestures seemed to be saying to the Dems, “Come on applaud!”  The news said it was one of the longer SOTU addresses but honestly it seems to go quickly for me.  And I’m not just comparing it to the torturous Obama addresses.  Even W was too long for my tastes.  Probably because it didn’t entertain.  Trump was fun to watch.  The hand gestures, his claims to non-partisan motives and the general appeal to a patriotic agenda were highly effective.  I especially enjoyed his rhetorical shot at the NFL Anthem Kneelers right before the Super Bowl.  Masterfully done.  And, of course there was the kill shot, “young Americans have dreams too.”  Gold, Jerry, gold.

I’m sure there were some right wingers who were upset about the 1.8 million dreamers being brought up as a pillar of Trump’s four part plan on immigration but honestly, there isn’t a prayer in the world of Cryin’ Chuck accepting the wall and all the rest of the good stuff Trump loaded into his plan. I look at it as a poisoned pill that the Dems will refuse to touch.  What other choice will Trump have than to go to the American people and tell them to give him more Republicans in November to get his job done correctly.  I’m guessing a few years ago I would have been one of those complaining about this offer.  But I have learned my lesson.  Ann Coulter was right, “In Trump We Trust.”

Some of the other facets of the experience were the cutaways to people in the audience. Pelosi was the most consistent.  Her expression seemed to be saying, “That egg salad sandwich I just ate must have gone bad.”  Honestly she looked like she had to throw up but was gritting her teeth to stop it.  Schumer was draped over his chair like it was a recliner.  He was just sitting there taking it all in.  Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus looked enraged, especially when he talked about historically low black unemployment.  One of the highlights was when Trump mentioned the presence in the audience of Congressman Steve Scalise, recovered from the gunshot wounds he received at the hands of a crazed Democratic supporter last year.  That was a feel good moment that Trump seemed especially to relish.  First Lady, Melania Trump was in the gallery with the guests and looked typically dignified and lovely.  I read this morning that CNN claimed that Melania wore white as a protest against her husband’s alleged dalliance with a porn star, although why white would be an effective protest color is beyond my meager understanding.  Honestly, these people really have lost what little minds they had.  Several of the guests were associated with MS-13 gang related violence.  There were the four parents of two murdered Long Island teenage girls and an Hispanic law enforcement officer who ignored death threats to lock up a large number of these gang members.  These were highly emotional moments that made a deep impact.  However I believe the most charged moment came when Trump said that American heroes lived not only in the past but also today and the Republican audience started chanting USA, USA, USA.  At that point Democratic Representative  Luis Gutierrez literally got up and walked out of the assembly.  Good times, good times.  So what else could you ask for?  Well, actually, if you remember my recent “Trump vs SOTU” spoof, I included Trump insulting his enemies and having the FBI “Secret Society” members frog-marched out of the House of Representatives in the middle of the address and hauled off to jail.  Well, sure that would have been cool.  But you can’t expect reality to be as cool as my imagination.  But, then again, this is Trump so maybe he’s just saving something for next January.

American Greatness – Pick of the Day – VDH’s – Will Unfinished Train Overpasses Become California’s Stonehenge?

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If you need a good shot of shadenfreude read this article by Victor Davis Hanson.  Seriously, the loons in California are about to hit a very hard wall.  With any luck Trump can put a stake through the heart of their dreams by refusing to fund these monstrosities.

Will Unfinished Train Overpasses Become California’s Stonehenge?

The Great American Hero of the American Century

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Some historians have dubbed the 20th Century, “The American Century” because of the dominance of its military, industrial, financial and cultural power.  Assuming that the 21st Century will be a muddled mess, it may be that history will declare the 20th century to have been the golden age of the United States of America.  So, barring the God Emperor restoring us to our former dominance it looks possible that the 20th century will be remembered as our high point.  I was thinking about who can be considered the greatest and most representative fictional American hero of the 20th Century?  If this were Ancient Greece or Rome we would look to epic poetry.  For Modern European countries we might look to novels, plays or possibly Grand Opera.  In addition to these, for Twentieth Century America we also have to consider several newer arts.  Motion pictures and comic books appeared during that time period.  Several interesting candidates come to my mind from some of my favorite stories.  From comic books there are obviously Superman and Batman.  Movie characters that I can think of are Sam Spade from the “Maltese Falcon” and Peter Warren from “It Happened One Night.”  Both characters reflect the rugged independence and confidence that typify the self-image of American men from the time period.  There are, surely, another dozen well-known characters from American books and movies of last century that represent the qualities that American men recognize as the archetype.  I’ll let the reader add some names to the list.  But there is another artform that blossomed in the 20th Century, animation or cartoons.  It is from this artform that I have selected the quintessential 20th Century American Hero, Bugs Bunny.

Some may say that my roots in New York City have irrationally biased me in favor of this wisecracking lagomorph who sounds like he should be selling newspapers in Times Square or hot dogs at Yankee Stadium.  But I’m willing to provide a rational accounting.  As I mentioned above, the characteristics of the American male (up until the snowflake generation) were self-confidence, optimism, independence, competitiveness, pride, egalitarianism, ingenuity and a sense of humor.  Now, certainly no one normally displays all these virtues to the highest degree at the same time, in the real world but these are the characteristics that identify the ideal.  My thesis is that Bugs is close to that ideal.

I’ll start with the last quality first.  I defy anyone to deny that Bugs Bunny practically defines mid-century American humor.  The Looney Tunes were among the most popular things shown at the movie theaters across the country and Bugs was the most popular character in the cartoons.  Bugs had a wise crack for every occasion and every antagonist.

All the rest of these qualities are on constant display as the “wascally wabbit” battles any and every rabbit hating adversary from Elmer Fudd all the way up to Hitler and Mussolini.  His intrepidity extended all the way up to Martians wielding disintegrator guns and gremlins sabotaging the very aircraft that Bugs is flying.  And one last quality he exemplified was patriotism.  In one episode he competed with various other characters to see who was the true “superman.”  But at the end he abandons the competition to become the true superman by donning the dress uniform of a US Marine.  Of course, this was at the height of World War II.  I think I’ve made my case.

So, here’s to you Bugs, the Greatest American Hero.

That’s All Folks.”

American Greatness Pick of the Day – Angelo Codevilla’s “Can the First Amendment Protect Us from the Ruling Class?

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Well written analysis of how the First Amendment is being attacked and why.  His discussion of social media is good but I want to go a step farther.  If Google and Facebook are already in bed with the FBI and the CIA then they are already a utility and need to be held to the same First Amendment requirements government is constrained by.

Can the First Amendment Protect Us from the Ruling Class?