Category Archives: Review

Non-fiction, Review, Writing

Kageoween:Horror Collections, Scare Street Horror book four

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INTRODUCTION: It’s that time of year, again, and my favorite time of year. That is right, it is Kageoween and I am kicking off one of my favorite months with this short horror collection. I’m not sure when I picked this Kindle e-book up but it was probably for Halloween and it was either cheap or free. I decided to read the first few stories in it, because it only has a few and wow! I managed to make my way through five of 10 of the stories in this collection and skipped the “bonus novel” which, if that is anything like the 5 stories I read is ironically named. (Turned out, you had to e-mail for the bonus novel, still a pass).

CHARACTERS:
The stories were filled with shallow characters. The first one alone was a clear Stephen King homage and boy did it miss the mark on both characters and homage. The woman draws a nine millimeter on a homeless person, without much hesitation. What a horrible character! How do we know the homeless character is what the author tells us “she” is without build? She was shallower than my character in Happy Acres, which isn’t my finest of hour when it comes to writing, so I’m an expert on this. All of them in the first five are highly forgettable.

PROSE: Telling, telling and more telling. The first one had one decent part of showing, which was the old woman’s hands which you can see for yourself and compare it to the excerpt down below.

The fingers, Wendy noticed, were exceptionally thin, the forefingers longer than the middles. And each finger was tipped with a long, dull gray nail, the edges of which looked wickedly sharp.-Going for a Walk by Ron Ripley.

Who the hell was the curator and editor on this thing, Stevie Wonder? Rubbish is an understatement!

DIALOGUE: Oh good god! It has more cringe than an autistic or a YouTube if you want to get technical, trying to be cool. This excerpt is from the second story within the book:

My hand appears to have some kind of bracelet around it, most likely a hospital admittance bracelet; the kind with name and DOB.- Story Two, The Doctor’s Questions, Eric Whittle.

Never mind the face a comma would have sufficed and there was no need for a semicolon, but no shit Sherlock? What other type of bracelet would it has been?
How about this little piece of cringe from the first story

From the chain’s sagging center, a faded sign reading “No Trespassing” hung limply. There was no breeze to move it.-Going for a Walk by Ron Ripley.

This simple sentence could have read “The sign hung still, dangling from a single rusted chain. The faded and chipped white sign had bold red lettering, reading “No trespassing.”

Instead we get his shitty take on the sentence. I’m not saying mine is the end all be all of writing, but it is a step in the right direction.

SUBTEXT: None, unless, how to shill shit counts as subtext.

CONCLUSION: For a book that was most likely free, it is still, somehow, too much of a cost for the “pleasure” of read this short story collection. If you’re looking for something to read this Halloween, I highly advise to steer clear.

1 out of 5 stars.

Analysis, Music, Review, Writing

Is it Just Me or?: Curtis Knight “Voodoo Woman vs Carlos Santana “Black Magic Woman”

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Voodoo Woman

Black Magic Woman

Ok, so Voodoo woman showed up in my Youtube recommendations as part of a Halloween compilation. I have never heard this song, but it is listed as early 60’s and Black Magic Woman is 1970 in terms of copyright. So is it just me or do The lyrics and sound seem very similar and did Santana just make a blatant rip off.

Fashionably Late Reviews, Review, Writing

Fashionably Late Movie Reviews:All the Presidents Men

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Writer’s Note: I know this review is diffrent from the others, but it is less of a review and more about the events the movie is based on, given the movie was so bare bones to work with.

I’m not quite sure how to review this movie, given it isn’t really a movie in the traditional sense. It seems more like liberal schadenfreude as opposed to a desire to create for prosperity a film that documents the 1972 Watergate incidence, where Richard M. Nixon had men break into the DNC headquarters, presumably to make sure the Democrats were keeping their documents neatly shredded in the appropriate folders.

I’ve never been the biggest history buff, but I do know and have room in my reading collection for history, but this is one I have to admit that I am not very well versed in. I know enough about to know it always seemed like a non issue for someone my age, yet people act like it was this major important historical event, which I highly disagree with and for one major reason, where were all these cocksuckers when the patriot act was passed during the George W. Bush era? Oh, they’ll bitch when they have to deal with an idiot who breaks into the DNC to help him in the 1972, but spy on the entire country under the guise of fighting terrorism and well fuck me silly, I’m ok with that. How about Obama taping Trump recently? It’s all a bunch of aggrandizing by overly hubristic baby boomers who felt like they did something, when they really did nothing. Now, this isn’t an endorsement of Richard M. Nixon, there is a reason why, until Trump, the political Lexington had only one word to describes such unscrupulous acts and that is “Nixonion”, but that alone doesn’t warrant a film on such a paltry and unimportant aspect of history. It is much like Bill Clinton in the 90s with his blow job. White water and his execution on the campaign trail in 92 are far worse things to detail in a movie, the bj, was not his finest hour, is a insufficient thing to focus on and so petty, yet we don’t get movies on Clinton getting head, so why did we need this? It is filled with solipsism by people writing, presuming and correctly in the year it was released at least, that you’re knowledgeable about the events. That’s all fine and good, but it makes for a lackluster film when you’re born in the 80’s and have no clue what the fuck is what and why Robert Redford seems intrigued about a name that is never mentioned or a character about him being introduced. This is purely and simply liberal propaganda, make to dig into the Nixon right and make them pay for just voting for a guy they didn’t like. Very petty and very babyboomeresque. The right got even in the 90s and now the right is making us all pay by electing a man that makes Nixion seem like a walk in the park. Mark my words, there will be more of these shit movies to follow on the heels of Trump. Most likely bet, Oliver Stone does one on him, like his 1994 flick, Nixon, which by the way, is way better than this shit. Dick from 1998, is another, albeit fictionalized version of these events that is a lot more fun. All the Presidents Men is nothing more than men gossiping on phones in the 70s, for 90 minutes and then typing about it. Literally nothing happens. There is nothing that makes this seem important. I would praise the lack of dramatization, except they tried to amp it up, but to utter failure. There was no sense of urgency to care. By today’s standards, this movie can be summed as “Richard Nixon tweets something dumb”. Where are all the movies on Regan’s Iran contra scandal? Now that was and is something worthwhile. Why not a movie on Obama being stupid and allowing Iran to have nuclear material? That is a horrible thing that he should be called out for. The acting is good, but it’s Mostly Hoffman and Redford playing themselves and not really acting. The rest of the cast is all right but it is nothing to write home about. Overall this movie is a paltry example of political pettiness at its worse and people wonder why we’re so polarized now a days

2 out of 5.

Educational, Non-fiction, Review, Writing

Best Resources for Learning Another Language

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Jim Ross: Are you biliginual?
Triple H:There are many bi things I am JR but linguals not one of them. Wait did I just mean to say that?
Jim Ross:I don’t think you did, but be that as it may, we’re live
King of the Ring 98

INTRODUCTION
When I was in middle school they gave us one of two choices to learn a second language. Spanish or French were the only two things you could pick from. Now, in Salem, there used to be a major French population, but that dwindled by the time I was born. Salem, Massachusetts was high in Puerto Ricans when I was growing up, so I opted for Spanish, since this would be a more practical language to use, plus it would allow for more immersion as well as better job opportunities abroad. You took 2 years in middle school and 4 years in high school, if you passed the middle school aspect. This is way too long to be teaching a language and for some people it is too short to be able to learn a language. I always hopped for a better way, especially as a autodidactic person. Sadly, books were never enough to just learn a language and most programs were and are uber expensive. I still think Rosetta Stone is too costly, even coming down in price from the $500+ dollars in my late teens and early twenties to about $200ish. That said, it is a worthwhile program to use, if you can get past the initial price tag. So recently, I set out to use Duolingo to learn German and search for other resources that would supplement its use. Here is a review of the best resources to use in learning another language.

BEST RESOURCES
Duolingo is amazing and fun. It makes learning the language a breeze and helps to cement thing in better than just rote memorization. This isn’t without its faults though as it will only get you so far in your target language. The Duolingo plus is alright but relatively expensive for what you get, which is just no ads and the ability to repair streaks. If you pay the monthly until you’re finish, you’ll be all set.

LingoDeer is much like Duo but with a deer mascot and it is just as fun, but I wouldn’t say better than Duolingo. Its best aspect is in price point, for less than a year’s service on Duolingo, you can have lifetime access to everything and this, I believe, extends to all languages you could learn.

Busuu is amazing for learning a language as they have people who actually speak your target language which can help you with pronunciation. It is more like a helpful social media than an app. Included with the service is McGrawhill certification, which, if you didn’t know, if you’re American, made all the textbooks you used in school growing up, so the certification is worth more than you’ll pay for the service and probably far cheaper than most others you could get from anything else and with such a trusted name in education, well worth the price.

Clozemaster is another great resource to learn but I don’t think it is overly helpful past Duolingo or LingoDeer unless you’re willing to pay for the service. It is alright but not the most amazing way.

YouTube is surprising more amazing with learning a language than it is for anything else. The majority of teachers are well worth paying for and very helpful. In fact, I would go so far and say this is the most helpful and useful of online communities on Youtube. Worth spending your money on any and all and even the weaker channels tend to offer great content.

Idiots/Dummies guide
I have both idiots and dummies guides and I think the Dummies guides are way better than the Idiots guides. This things have been around for years and with their trademark wit and humor, they’re a great resource for anything one could desire to learn.

Collegiate dictionary is a must due to the amazing amount of words they have. Some can be expensive, but their digital counterparts are often very cheaper and well worth the investment.

Amazon is fantastic for digital books as it can offer thousands of no to low cost books to buy to help you learn the language. Add in the aforementioned dictionary and you will be learning new words in no time.

Twitter may not seem like it, but it is an amazing resource that gives you access to native speakers all over the world, not to mention thousands of brands in the country of desire. Well worth using to see updates in your Twitter feed daily to help you learn.

Fluent forever is a book which, isn’t really mind blowing as he basically just explains a lot of techniques that the accidents civilizations used in order to remember better, personal connections to make remembering words easier for you. It isn’t a bad book and for those of you that may have never read the ancient philosophers or went to college, this book will be gold for you in helping you out.

Conclusion
Learning a second language is fun and worthwhile endevenor and the ability for everyone to learn one at their desired pace is exquisitely amazing in today’s age. We’re afford so many luxuries that our ancestors could only dream of and there is really no reason to give it a go and with the resources provided above, it shouldn’t be too difficult for anyone of any age to accomplish.

Ich wünscht du glück in learnen ein zweiten sprache!

———————
Minor corrections to the text 31 July 2019 10:01

beer, Review, Writing

Founders All Day IPA Review

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https://twitter.com/Bestinyourgirl/status/1134946594363760641

Horror, Review, Writing

Psycho Novel Review

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Psycho Novel Buy Link

Introduction
I just finished reading Robert Bloch’s Psycho, which the movie from the 1960’s is based upon. This book itself is based upon the Ed Gein murders, which was a much used source of inspiration for many other movies, books and tv shows throughout the 60’s and 80’s, not to mention The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I first saw the original Psycho movie in the 1990’s and loved it. Sure, it had its problems, but it was fun. The remake came out in 1998, which I hated, even at twelve years old. Although I am not pictured in it, because I was taking the photo, when I went to Universal Studios Florida as a child, we got a pic of the house from the film. I also went to Bates Elementary School in Salem, Massachusetts. Which, one of my principals looked a lot like Anthony Perkins. So to say I haven’t loved this film for years would be an understatement.

The book was originally written in 1959, and took only one year for it come come to the big screen, which would be in 1960. The impact of this movie would be felt for generations to come, as it gave birth to the slasher genre and without it, we wouldn’t have all the fantastic 80’s movies, like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm St without it. While the movie is still more spoken about than the novel is, I am going to review this anyways. So without further ado, here is Robert Bloch’s novel, Psycho!

Synopsis
A young woman steals $40,000 dollars from her boss and set out to find a new life, when she stops at the Bates’ Motel. Little does she know what is going on in such a secluded place out here on the new highway and the ramifications of her actions result in a unexpected twist!

Characters
The characters are developed slightly better than the movie, but still not enough to care about in this novel, which is a shame too, because the additional information of the characters in the novel make the movie a lot more interesting.

Dialogue
Fine as is. As I always point out, dialogue is hard to screw up.

Prose
Nothing horrible, but it has some flaws like misplaced expository aspects within, but otherwise, just fine.

Subtext/Themes
If anything about this book needs to be said, it is how this is really more relevant than ever before, given the Millennial male is a typical momma’s boy.

Conclusion
The novel isn’t bad, but it lacks the suspense of the movie. Robert was better than a lot of writers in his time frame, but this book isn’t the best example of this. Psycho is just mediocre compared to what people think about the movie and it is hard to imagine this book being so lucky as to create a movie so soon, when a lot of other books have taken longer to grace the silver screen. The twist is given away by chapter 10 or 11 and it is a downhill ride from there that ever even had an ascent. It could of ended a whole 4 chapters earlier than it did and might of salvaged itself, but it didn’t and it only made reading this to the end even more tedious, which is a shame, given it is such a short book. All of the movie’s iconic moments are there, accept non of Hitchcock’s suspense is there to make it worthwhile, nor is the line “We all go a little mad sometimes”. The tension doesn’t exist, the writing is only ok, but it is still a decent read.

3 out of 5.