An Apology re. the Comment Section

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Like the self-centered person that I am, I've neglected reader comments. I stink. Google changed the interface. Where I used to be emailed when there was a comment to check, that is no longer so. Out of inbox, out of mind. 

And so I apologize, especially to Authors 4 Characters who has been tireless in observations and annotations. 

Over the coming weeks, I will respond to the bulk of the remarks.

Henceforth, I vow to be a more thoughtful blog lord.

Unless Google messes again with the algorithms. 

Glass Ceiling Still Exists in Enhanced Interrogations

 Ryan Long probes for answers as to why women face exclusion in the torture profession.

Ryan Long

Cataract Surgery: The Eyes Have It

 

The New Daily

Well, here we go again. A new decade, a new operation. This time my cataracts are turning the world into a soft milky blur. The eye surgeon gave me two choices: Medicare Eyes, in which a popular government program would pay for most everything. My opaqueness would be removed, but I'd still need glasses, etc. 

Or the Cadillac Eyes. In this case, extra special lens are placed in my eyes eliminating my far sightedness save for reading glasses. Of course, that costs out-of-pocket. But, as my wife pointed out, they can only go in and muck about with your eyes one time. So, we'll pony up for the cool orbs and that will be that. 

Keep me in your prayers this Monday and Wednesday. I'll update soon. 

Book Review: Military Sci-Fi/Fantasy Anthology

 

Cannon Publishing Military Sci-Fi / Fantasy Anthology: Spring 2019 by J.F. Holmes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Uniformed men and women clash with foes both timeless and disturbingly new in this collection of short stories mashing the military with elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Editor/contributor J.F. Holmes has assembled  thirteen tales ranging in craftsmanship from "excellent" to "needs work."

You'll find an eclectic mix of settings from alternate history to deep space to contemporary conflicts as front-line fighters encounter the bizarre and alien, sprinkled with yarns featuring rear-area "fobbits" who find themselves thrust into the confusion and chaos of combat. Alas, a few offerings seemed little more than scenes, lacking a clear beginning, middle and end. In addition, there were editing and formatting glitches that detracted from the readings.

Deserving of mention are:

"Dragon Slayer" by Alex Piasecki
"Damage Control" by Lucas Marcum
"The Nothing" by Chris Morton
"The Gunpowder Incident" by James Schardt

I particularly enjoyed "Night Shift" by Yakov Merkin who included a nice dollop of 'science' with his sci-fi story of a bored, space sailor with health problems who finds himself the only one capable of alerting his comrades in the face of an enemy attack.

Some enjoyable reads for aficionados of military and military sci-fi fiction.

View all my reviews

The Ukulele Orchestra Tackles Shaft Theme Song

 A sensitive rendering of the iconic film score. 

Ukulele Orchestra

Story Du Jour #22

All Story Du Jour tales are available online and free! A small offering in these trying times.

Zocalo

"Freak Season" - by L.A. Pontes

Approx. 584 words

What the heck is happening to Reed's town?

Here's a sample of the writing:

"Something spooky and supernatural had hit his hometown hard. The frantic flow of explanations ranged from the town’s remote location in the hill country, to the strange quality of the water. Plus nuclear tests, an allegedly ancient witch tradition—that nobody had ever heard before—and, oh yes, the freaky El Nino. Reed hadn’t seen a normal human being in days. 

 Suddenly, the cloud took a left turn out of the gully and rolled up a grassy hill. At the crest, the cloud unraveled once more into the mist and faded into thin strips of fog. Reed’s eyes bugged. In the center of the hill stood a strange figure. The thing was humanoid, no doubt, but short and with a bulbous head, perfectly round, like a little aquarium. The bulb-headed thing lifted a thin arm and a tiny finger as though it dialed a phone. A spaceship materialized on the ridge."

Finally, a return to a truly short tale. 

Note: A bit late, but my review of the Google Archipelago is up at last. 

Comedians Battle Comedic Oppression

 

Once again, Ryan Long leads the way, suppressing fellow comics who refuse to squash the chuckles least someone be offended. 

Ryan Long

Book Review: Google Archipelago

Google Archipelago: The Digital Gulag and the Simulation of Freedom by Michael Rectenwald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"The Google Archipelago has emerged and will expand, effectively becoming conterminous with the full range of human activity, enveloping every social space where people may be found."

Having envisioned the future in this short, non-fiction work, retired academic Rectenwald believes technology—Big Tech—is fashioning a digital gulag similar in its zeal for conformity and repression as the brutal 20th Century Soviet model.

Big Tech is defined as mega-data services, media, cable, internet services, social media platforms, Artificial Intelligence, bots and the apps that dot our phones like chicken pox. Given the homogenized political and social nature of Big Tech, the author describes a grim time ahead for those out of favor with their norms.

In the West, deplatforming, brigading, social shaming, ostracism are taking the place of work camps, firing squads and torture. (Though the current Chinese template of cyber control in the form of social scores backed by prison camps and forced organ harvesting seems an unappealing hybrid.)

There are a few sections where I lost the narrative thread, but the author's overall message of society's absorption into the Google blorg is not hard to believe and easily observable in action.

Readers interested in tech trajectories and their effect on freedom of speech, among other menaced freedoms, should find this a suitable companion.



View all my reviews

Hot Run in the Summertime

Run, Karla, Run

First five-mile trot in six months. Even in the early morning, it was still sweltering. Given all the people, dogs, strollers, joggers, runners, an occasional cyclist, and an actual horse on the horse trails it was splendid training for the crowded streets of a race.

If we ever have one again. 

Didn't time myself, focusing on running lightly and relaxed. Afterwards, I took a pair of salt tablets and wrote all day on a longish short story. 

 

Pro Protester Hacks

Ryan Long supplies the tips for full-time activists.

Ryan Long

Story Du Jour #21

All Story Du Jour tales are available online and free! A small offering in these trying times.

Steve Powers

"Premium Harmony" - by Stephen King

Approx. 4K words

At a convenience store, a man confronts issues of life, death, and tobacco. 

Here's a sample of the writing:


"Ray looks at the gas gauge and sees it’s down to half. He could turn off the motor and roll down the windows, but then he’d really bake. Sitting here in the sun, waiting for her to buy a purple plastic kickball for ninety-nine cents when he knows they could get one for seventy-nine cents at Wal-Mart. Only that one might be yellow or red. Not good enough for Tallie. Only purple for the princess.

 He sits there and Mary doesn’t come back. “Christ on a pony!” he says. Cool air trickles from the vents. He thinks again about turning off the engine, saving some gas, then thinks, Fuck it. She won’t weaken and bring him the smokes, either. Not even the cheap off-brand. This he knows. He had to make that remark about the Little Debbies.

 He sees a young woman in the rearview mirror. She’s jogging toward the car. She’s even heavier than Mary; great big tits shuffle back and forth under her blue smock. Biz sees her coming and starts to bark."

A King tale from a decade ago. The man is not afraid to reference his own works.

Note: a fine non-fiction book review for the Google Archipelago inbound early next week.