Aesthetics MATTER

I’ve been travelling lately, so I’ve missed some on-point commentary by my contemporaries. Alexander, who I’ve had on NewPub Talk before, nails it once again: Within that article is one things that I’ve been trying to hammer for years: Aesthetics Matter. Aesthetics are powerful. Aesthetics have meaning. They aren’t just arbitrary window dressing, as some post-modern critics would have you believe. My YouTube subs often take exception to my heavy weighing of Aesthetics as a category when I review movies and games, but I often feel like I give them too little weight. Good aesthetic presentation can save a sub-par…

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Going Stupid

As my Google Pixel XL (the original) continues its decline into non-functionality through hardware failure and obsolescence, I am seriously considering “going stupid” for my next phone. That is, I will “downgrade” to a flip-phone or the like. I have a lot of reasons for this, but there are also some big problems with trying to avoid smartphones in 2020. Reasons to go stupid: Headphone jacks are disappearing – This I decided was my line in the sand for smartphones. If I can no longer get one with a headphone jack, that means I won’t use one. I just cannot…

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Basic Emergency Prep List – Welcome, Corona-chan!

Following up from the other post: The point here is to make sure you are comfortable and well-nourished following an emergency, have good options, and of course don’t have to pay out the nose for price-gouged goods. Here’s a basic list of recommendations for any plague or boogs (keep in mind you can always be MORE prepared) and more or less what I have. You can always do more: Food: Rice – 100 lbs Pinto Beans – 25 lbs Condensed milk – 2 cases Canned Corn – 2 cases Cheerios – 4 boxes Kodiak pancake mix – 2 large boxes…

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Prepping for Corona-Chan

My wife asked me, “Are you scared?” I said, “Of course not, because I’m prepared.” Prepared for what, exactly? The Corona Virus, earthquakes, floods, PG&E randomly shutting off my power, the Electric Boogaloo, the impending return of the Black Death in San Francisco… I’m talking basic emergency preparedness here, not bugging out and hiding in the wilderness during a collapse. If you want to take it to that level, that is up to you. Everyone should be prepared for significant economic disruptions due to disasters, and Corona-chan has made me realize that I wasn’t as prepared as I would like…

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Gail Simone reveals what they all actually think of you

This thread is a beast: Once again, the mask slips and one of the “caretakers” of beloved western franchises shows exactly what she thinks of the people who like her medium. I actually found myself laughing quite a bit at that thread, not because the satire was cutting or accurate, but because I felt like I was watching somebody scream into a mirror. Leftists these days don’t seem to either understand satire or be able to make their own, primarily because they have absolutely no idea how 99% of the population truly thinks, looks, and acts like. This is why…

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Using Your Children to Grift is Child Abuse

I’ll be honest. Years of existing on the internet, with hoax after hoax pulling on people’s heartstrings and then being shown to be a grifting operation, my heart has hardened. I didn’t believe this story from the moment I saw it. Why? Because it’s too good. It’s too on the nose. Aboriginal dwarf getting bullied hits waaaay too many checkboxes for me to not put on my skeptics goggles. As my friend Michael Brown points out: And yes, this setup was a grift, one that this mother has been pulling for years. In fact, the kid is an actor. This…

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The Epistle of Captain America – The Pop Cult is Truly a Cult

If you needed more proof that the obsession with fictional corporate franchises has a religious overtone to it, here is a major filmmaker advertising just that. When my viewers were upset about the corporate destruction of Star Wars, calling the franchise a cultural institution, I thought it a bit hyperbolic – after all, these are just stories, and you can’t uncreate what George Lucas did. I see things better now. Star Wars is part of the religious reverence for popular franchises. When Disney makes a Star Wars movie that undoes the stories of the Lucas era, it really is like…

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What writers usually miss in analysis

One of the reasons literature majors don’t automatically turn into great writers is that they tend to focus on the wrong things when it comes to analyzing fiction. They aren’t alone. Most analysis content on the web focuses on things like themes, allegory, imbedded messages, prose, and (in genres like fantasy) world-building, and magic systems. These elements aren’t unimportant, but they are not what makes a story a good, memorable read. Here’s what writers should focus on instead (in no particular order): Story events. What happens? What order do things happen in? What was unpredictable? What impact did the events…

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A world of comparisons and trade-offs

Following up from last night, I want to hammer home an important point: We live in a world of limitations. That means that the comparative value of your time spent doing certain activities is more important than an absolute value. Practicing scales will improve your guitar technique, but will it improve your technique as much as spending the same amount of time practicing actual musical pieces? The idea that students should practice music rather than scales isn’t exactly anathema to the orthodox music education practitioner; the traditionalist would say, “Practice both!” We don’t have unlimited time on this earth to…

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Writing Groups

By “Writing Groups,” I mean a group of writers that read and give feedback to each others works. Are these sorts of groups useful? They can be, but compared to other things you could be doing, I think their utility is minimal or possibly a negative, depending on what sort of people are in the group. I’ll give an example to spring-board this discussion: Before I go further, this is a reminder that I never endorse piling on anyone I link in this blog. Heather wants to be a writer and improve her craft. I want anyone with that desire…

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