It’s not Christmas without a little cheese metal, is it? I kind of like Helix’s take on the perennial holiday classic Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree. It doesn’t stand in the way of the melody, doesn’t try some massive reinterpretation of the song or the message; they just plug in and rock that sucker out.…
Redshirts by John Scalzi My rating: 5 of 5 stars OK so I remember this one episode of Sanford & Son, in which the character of Fred Sanford actually met Redd Fox, the actor/comedian who played the role Fred Sanford on the show. I think I was about 7 or 8 when I saw this…
It’s not the holiday season for me without some Jethro Tull. Something about Ian Anderson’s arrangements, soaring flute passages, and witching-hour vocals just evokes powerful imagery of, as C. S. Lewis might put it, the Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time; music with one foot in the Ancient Pagan world, but also one in…
You know, the funny thing about the 2015 Space Coast Marathon was that I came into it with a completely carefree, lackadaisical attitude, and that’s a real odd thing to have right before running 26.2 miles, in the heat, just for “fun”. I also love the word “lackadaisical”, and I haven’t had an opportunity to…
Well that magical feel-good time of the year is upon us, my friends! A bit of frost in the air, a touch of snow on the ground, burning leaves and hot apple cider and molassess cookies and… no wait, I live in South Florida. It’s hot, muggy, rainy, and even our ginormous flying cockroaches are…
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey My rating: 4 of 5 stars Leviathan Wakes heralds the opening salvo of the “Expanse” series, a massive space opera epic that pretty much eschews technogeekery and gee-whiz skiffy’ism to present a compelling pre-interstellar vision of humanity. Mankind has colonized the solar system, but even with that achievement, they still remain sadly bogged down…
I’ve been doing a lot of races “for fun” lately. Yes yes, I know every race is “fun” on some level, but for the hardcore racing devotees reading this words, you know exactly to that which I am referring: stiffening your mental reserve, tensing your body like a coiled metal spring at the Start Line,…
Well this was one for the record books… The 2015 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon held special promise to those runners who, like your humble narrator, ran the 2014 Wine & Dine Half to something of a disappointment. You can go check out my review, but in a nutshell it was like this: everything…
Is it already over? 🙁 Well here we are, Halloween. It’s roughly about 5:45 PM on October 31st, and Boots and I are slowly lounging around in preparation for heading out later tonight, for drinks and dinner and costumes and karaoke and Halloween fun. And here I am, lamenting that I won’t be able to…
It’s not a big surprise to feel your temperature rise You’ve got a touch of redline fever ‘Cause there is just one cure that we know for sure You just become a heavy metal believer… This is a song about a freakin’ car, and it rules. And I can’t stand The Eagles anymore, but hot…