Tag: OCF Update

14NOV2020 – OCF Update

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Pardon the dearth of posts in the last few days.  Like everyone else I have been pondering on the reality and circumstances of our troubled land.  I was contemplating waiting on the Supreme Court’s decisions on the election fraud appeals being submitted for their decisions.  But I think I will write a essay on the path forward without regard to whether the Supreme Court does its job or not.  I no longer think that further proof is needed to convince the reasonable men among the American people that there is no longer one law that applies to all Americans.  And what we have to decide is what we want to do about that.  That’s what I will be working on.

I also have some more movie reviews.  I have a book review of Jim Butcher’s latest addition to his Dresden Files’ series, “Peace Talks.”  I don’t think I have done reviews of this series before so maybe this will require a review of the series overall as a start.  And as the holidays near I think music and movie reviews for holiday themed works will be forthcoming.

I have been very negligent on the photography front.  I’m still posting photos of the day from back in the summer.  That is because photo work takes a bunch of time to prep.  I keep promising to put together some larger posts on technique and various subjects but I’ve been unable based on time.  I have promised myself I’ll have to do better.  And I will.

And as promised I’ll get guest contributors busy on some things outside of my areas of expertise.

So once again apologies for the drought but things will improve.

Barred Owl, Sony A7 III, Minolta 200mm f\4 Macro lens

10NOV2020 – OCF Update

photog Current Events, OCF , ,

As I mentioned recently I’m waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision on the President’s petitions to question the votes in the various states where fraud was most egregious.  I’m not questioning the status of honest government in the US.  That’s all settled in this banana republic of a country.  What I want to know first is whether there’s any hope of repairing some of the damage by legal means.  Once I know that I’ll be able to speak about what the paths forward look like for me.

I will say now that the idea that anyone thinks Joe Biden could be the president is an absurdity that is more damning than the fraud that his partisans were willing to commit with impunity.  Joe Biden is an abomination in more than one sense.  Not since Caligula elevated his horse to the rank of senator has a less qualified and more repugnant candidate been presented to the much suffering people of this planet.

In less distressing news, I finally got a copy of Jim Butcher’s latest volume in the Dresden Files series, “Peace Talks.”  This is, I believe the sixteenth book in the series and it’s been six years since the fifteenth book came out.  It’s an urban fantasy series that highlights all types of supernatural creatures from three different types of vampire to several kinds of werewolves to almost godlike elemental forces.  All of these creatures seem to spend most of their time bothering Harry Dresden in his seedy Chicago office where he is the only practicing wizard that consults with the Chicago PD.  I’m really looking forward to Harry’s troubles.  No matter how much he is tortured by the baddies he always manages to get a joke into the dialog.  That’s the spirit I admire.  Plus I believe volume seventeen is the end so I’m looking forward to the payoff.

Things have gotten more and more bizarre in the political world but I do want to say that I admire President Trump for showing the stamina and guts to push forward and challenge the crooks who are actively working to steal the presidency of this country.  I also want to say that other than a few good people like Tucker Carlson Fox News is as dishonest as CNN and MSNBC.

So hang in there all you folks in the real world.  We will have a path forward soon and it will be a path to better things and better days.

31OCT2020 – OCF Update – Happy Halloween

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As is always the case in New England, the weather here is almost always annoying and always bizarre.  Halloween makes me think about trees full of yellow and red leaves and pumpkins in the garden and kids running from house to house getting candy.  Instead here we get 4 inches of snow and trees full of leaves get weighed down by all the snow those leaves will hold.  And when those overloaded branches crack some of them take the power lines.  So that’s what trick or treat looks like around here.  But I do enjoy complaining about New England weather so I guess there is a bright side to it.

I’ve been trying to be cautious about my optimism on the election but it’s getting more difficult.  The tenor of news coming from the official organs of the Democrat establishment, (CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WP, and the tv networks) really doesn’t sound very hopeful for Creepy Uncle Joe.  Even the “good” news sounds like them whistling past the graveyard.  Now maybe 2016 has permanently traumatized them and provided some much needed hesitance to embrace polls that have been shown consistently biased in only one direction.  But I’ve got to tell you that when the black celebrities start flirting with endorsing Trump and Hispanic polls start veering dangerously high for the President it gets harder and harder to see Joe winning.  I and my cronies will spend Election Night overeating and discussing the results as they come in.  I’ll open up a post for comments and will update the post with thoughts, snide comments and hopefully links to video of suicidal leftists.

Happy Halloween.  I’ll continue to review horror and sf&f movies right through the holiday and beyond.  I always enjoy the fun of seeing old movies I haven’t seen in decades and praising them or mocking them (or both).  I still haven’t gotten the resources together to review the movies and books of the Thomas Harris (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, etc.) series completely.  Some of the books are no longer around the house (you have to get rids of some things) and I haven’t seen some of the movies in years.  But that’s still on the radar.  Because of the movie reviews and the election I have been a little remiss on my Star Trek reviews but that will be fixed soon.

And finally, I have been talking about how I think the COVID crisis will be allowed to peter out once the election is over.  Currently New England is in full blown panic because testing is showing a spike in new cases.  If my theory is correct, the state governments and media will discover that COVID has suddenly become much less dangerous.  I’m dying for that to be so because I would love to salvage at least Christmas this year.  Let’s see.

So, my good friends out in the real America, stay tuned and and stay well.  The best is yet to come.

photog

21OCT2020 – OCF Update

photog Current Events, OCF

The last week or so has been fun for me because I’ve had some time off to keep up with posting on the site and reading around the web on what’s going on.  And not just the election.  We really are living in interesting times.  And not just for the worse.  All kinds of opportunities are out there if you have the time and energy to dig into them.

I’ve been very encouraged by the quality of the posts that the guest contributors have provided.  Of course War Pig is always interesting but Tyler, Jason, Tom, Charlemagne Really and the Fat Man have each provided something interesting to add value to the site.  And I want to encourage others readers to think about submitting something.  If you’ve always wanted to have your say then leave a comment here or send an e-mail to orionscoldfire (at) charter.net and get in touch with me.  I don’t just need political posts.  Any kind of general interest stuff will be considered.

And I like that the commenting is picking up.  I need the feedback even if it’s disagreement.  There are going to be a lot of challenging times ahead and getting multiple points of view will be valuable.  And by the same token readers should be willing to consider that we don’t have all the answers.

Well, onward and upward.  Here comes the future, ready or not.

 

05OCT2020 – OCF Update – photog Bound

photog Current Events, OCF, Reviews, SF&F TV Show Reviews, Star Trek, TV Reviews ,

Regular readers of OCF will have been dismayed at the low output for the last couple of days.  Shameful as it is to admit, the day job is interfering with my work here on the site.  As tragic as it is it will be short lived.  After Wednesday I will have a very long break that will allow me to bloviate to my heart’s content.

In the meantime, I’ll produce as much content in the next couple of days as is humanly possible while simultaneously being beaten like a red-headed stepchild or whipped like an army mule.  Working where I do is akin to being an orc.  But not one of the really cool orcs like the Uruk Hai, more like the morgul rat types that grumble and complain and are constantly whipped by the non-commissioned officer orcs that always overhear them grumbling.

The President has once again befuddled his critics and seems to have dodged the COVID bullet and now claims he’s feeling better than he has in twenty years.  What the hell!  Where’s my dose of dexamethasone?  I could really use a dose of “twenty-years-younger” right about now.  Oh well, he is the leader of the free world, if there is a free world anymore.

As an aside ShatnerKhan III will occur this Saturday and as a major change of pace, there will not be any pastrami or corned beef.  There was a decision to go with homemade sausage.  There will apparently be both regular Italian sweet sausage and a specialty thin Italian sausage called cervellata that was much in demand in Brooklyn back when there were Italian neighborhoods in Brooklyn.  Of course it isn’t pronounced anything like it’s spelled thanks to the magic of southern dialectical Italian.  It sounds more like shivrelod.  But if you told that to one of the guys from the old country they’d claim you weren’t hearing it correctly.  Yeah right!

It has been speculated that ShatnerKhan has degenerated into an excuse for eating fattening foods.  I would argue that is actually an upgrade.  Be that as it may, we will be breaking new ground exploring a little known gem from Shatner’s middle period called The Devil’s Rain (1975).  Just listen to this summary and look at the cast.

A satanist cult leader is burnt alive by the local church. He vows to come back to hunt down and enslave every descendant of his congregation, by the power of the book of blood contracts, in which they sold their souls to the devil.

Starring Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino

You might think this could be a good horror movie.  You might be wrong.  To round out the program we’ll be watching a favorite Star Trek episode to be decided by popular acclaim, listening to some of Shatner’s latest spoken word songs and watching a particularly disturbing interview that includes Shatner and Mike Tyson threatening each other with death.

In addition to sausage and peppers sandwiches there will be  pumpkin, coconut custard and apple pies a la mode, various sweets and coffee.  Camera girl offered a fruit salad as a healthy choice but we’re going with mounds bars and M&Ms.  Considering the age and weight profile of the audience there may be casualties.

There was a discussion about live streaming our comments on The Devil’s Rain but in order to maintain anonymity I purchased multiple copies of the mask that Michael Myers wore in Halloween.  This mask is supposedly based on a mold of William Shatner’s face.

After wearing one for thirty seconds I don’t think this will work out.  I also have my doubts about our technical ability to perform a live stream.  But some enthusiasm still exists.

Strange and stranger things are happening wherever you look but I contend we need to have some fun in the midst of this so bear with me.  I’ll be back to share some serious thoughts soon but right now chaos reigns here at the compound.

02OCT2020 – OCF Update – President’s COVID Diagnosis & Site Info

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Here’s good wishes for the President and First Lady to have an uneventful recovery from their COVID infections.  President Trump, like you, I could stand to lose twenty or more pounds.  Here’s a good reason for both of us to start eating healthier and exercising more.  Camera Girl and the First Lady, being thinner and healthier are sure to nag us to do these things but we should do them on our own to ensure that the world will have long term access to such magnificent men as ourselves.

The site will be quieter than usual this morning as I attend to important matters.  I’ve been put in charge of my 2-year-old granddaughter and that is a full time job!  Camera Girl, hurry back.  I don’t have your stamina.

29SEP2020 – OCF Update

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Well, where are we?

Tonight, is the first Presidential Debate.  The level of insanity that will be on display should be breathtaking.  I remember Biden in his debates against Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan.  He never lets truth or even common-sense stand in the way of saying something Biden.  His creepiness should be on full display.  But the big mystery is whether he is coherent or not.  Apparently, there are some drugs that can be used to lift a dementia patient up out of the fog.  If Joe seems sharp, not intelligent but sharp, then we’ll have to assume they’ve got him doped up.  Either that or he dogged it during the whole earlier part of his campaign.  Either way watching the debate should be interesting.

A month or so before Election Day and indications are that voter fraud through mail in ballots is going to be a wholesale business.  It’s going to be interesting to see if the adjudication of this election ends at the Supreme Court or goes way beyond that.  From the things I’m hearing this may turn into a freak show where voting levels go to unheard of levels and the whole process goes off the rails.  That sounds like something that could cause a very serious reaction from both sides.  The Left is already occupying the street in many blue locales.  If unrest occurs in places like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin then armed conflict cannot be ruled out.

Florida has ended the COVID precautions and raised the all clear signal for its citizens.  This should be an interesting moment.  If two or three weeks down the road the daily death rate remains the same it will be an indicator that the other rational areas can do the same.  And it’s none too soon as far as I’m concerned.  The holidays are coming soon and I’d like to think this lockdown will end before Christmas.  New England will be the last to relent but at least if there are some early examples it will build impatience among the sane to pressure the authorities to wake up and smell the coffee.

I keep threatening to do some of my photo retrospectives but the day job has been keeping me busy.  But in about a week, things will definitely improve and I’ll keep some of my promises.  Insects are the first subject.  But hopefully I’ll have a foliage group and some other things too.  And I haven’t forgotten my promise to do a report on what I learned about photographing hummingbirds.

I still have another Olivier Shakespeare play (Othello) to review and I will continue on through the Star Trek series no matter how painful it becomes.  The powers that be are threatening to inflict ShatnerKhan III on an unsuspecting world.  I have been trying to figure out a way to live blog or make a podcast out of it.  Because of this I have purchased multiple copies of the Shatner mask that the Michael Myers character wore during the Halloween movies to allow for anonymity during the video.  This is an indication that ShatnerKhan has now descended into the madness that we knew it eventually would.  But since the food is well worth it, we expect to continue the series well into double figures.

And as promised I’m recruiting some other writers for the site.  And I like the change.  Not only because it takes some of the pressure off me to write but also because other voices make the site more interesting and generally better.  And I’m still looking for more writers.  If you or someone you know has some content to share leave a comment here or send an e-mail to orionscoldfire “at” charter.net and let me know.  And don’t restrict yourself to politics.  Anything interesting will be considered.

02SEP2020 – OCF Update

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Shocking events everywhere we look.  But maybe we’re not as easily shocked anymore.  Running street battles with Americans shooting at each other used to be a shocking concept.  Not anymore.  It’s the status quo.  So I better get used to all this so as not to seem behind the times.  But when I see something interesting I’ll be sure to write down my comments.

And I’ll be sure to provide some entertaining stuff too that will help us enjoy our bumpy ride.  For instance the next two Star Trek episodes are “The Trouble With Tribbles” and “The Gamesters of Triskelion.”  I haven’t watched either episode in decades but I know they are of the highest entertainment value and I’ll exploit them to the fullest extent.

At the Daily Quote its Sun Tzu week.  The wisdom of war and never a more fitting time for it.

On the photo side I plan on doing a couple of summer retrospectives.  This summer hasn’t been very productive for either flowers or butterflies but I want to do an insect review and maybe a flower one too.  I also think I’ve now got enough experience with shooting hummingbirds with both the 90mm macro and the 200-600 zoom to put together some kind of an essay on what I’ve learned and some explanatory photos for emphasis and interest.

As we head into the fall it’s time to start looking for horror movies for the Halloween season.  Having already reviewed all the 1930s and 1940s classic monster movies I guess it’s time to look at some of the more up to date candidates.  This will be a more ticklish business.  Realistic horror came into its own in the last thirty years with stories like the Silence of the Lambs.  But there is also some stuff that has crossed so far over the line into sadism that watching it is just an exercise in degradation.  I will tread carefully.

And of course the election will be a circus that even P.T. Barnum would envy.  We will have a spectacle that would make Nero sit up and take notice.

So stay tuned.

29AUG2020 – OCF Update – Hacked By Putin

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Well it finally happened.  They got me.  Hacked by Putin, just like the DNC.  I knew I shouldn’t have clicked on that Biden ad.  It only took six and a half hours of fumbling around with hosting sites and security companies and threatening the Kremlin but once I got President Trump on the line he straightened the whole thing out in five minutes.

If anyone got spam from me you have my humblest apologies.  I’ll work with the experts to make sure those commies can’t attack again.  By tomorrow I’ll have the photos and quotes up to date and I’ll work on some new pearls of wisdom besides.

{a much humbled and chastened} photog