I’ve mentioned it in passing when I wrote about AGDQ and that it was currently streaming old episodes of Dr. Who, but what is it, some may ask.
In a nutshell Twitch.tv is a live-streaming platform who’s focus is primarily, but not exclusively, video games.
Continue reading “What is Twitch?”
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and I still enjoy watching it as an adult. It’s a musical about prohibition era gangsters, with a cast of only children, and their weapons shoot whipped cream, and their cars are peddle powered. Yes, it’s a little odd, kind of quirky, but honestly the kids do a pretty good acting job and the songs are really catchy.
The only people you will recognize from the movie are Scott Baio and Jodie Foster, who were 15 and 14 respectively when the movie was made. It’s the music that will stick with you though. Paul Williams did an absolutely amazing job writing the score for this move, I would rank the soundtrack among my top 5. So You Wanna Be A Boxer is a great motivational song, Tomorrow will bring tears to your eyes, You Give A Little Love is an ear worm that will stay with you a long time and Bad Guys is just plain fun.
I was hesitant to write about this movie, not because I’m ashamed of being 45 and loving this movie as much as I do, but because it used to be hard to find. Until Blu-rays, it was only available on Region 2 DVD and VHS, plus… not a lot of rental places around anymore.
If you can find it, give it a watch.
Like Game of Thrones? Not a fan of the language it uses, but enjoy fantasy tales with magic, politics, bastards and huge armies? Go read one of my favorites.
Originally published in 1982 as a single novel, Raymond E. Feists Magician, was split in half for the North American market and sold as the two volumes I read. Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. It is a high fantasy story that is the first in a trilogy called The Riftwar Saga, which then continued to become the thirty volume Riftwar Cycle, and I have read every single one. Oh and it was also a kick ass video game.
Continue reading “Magician: Apprentice, Magician: Master”
Okay, so probably not technically enchiladas, but it’s what we call them since they have enchilada sauce on them and we don’t know another name for the dish. They are warm, flavorful and go well with a side of re-fried beans and guacamole (or just fresh slices of avocado)
Continue reading “Easy Enchiladas for diner”
I don’t know when it started, or how long it will last, but Classic Dr.Who episodes are currently streaming on Twitch.tv!
Actually, that’s a lie, the information on the Twitch page tells me it started on January 5th and will end on the 20th. Unlike a lot of other streaming sites, this is 100% legal. Twitch, having been bought by Amazon a few years ago, often get the rights to broadcast shows as a special event. They’ve done it with Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting in the past and this time have made an arrangement with the BBC to show old Dr. Who episodes.
Remember when the Doctor had no trouble using guns? Remember when the Daleks were actually scary? Remember when TV was square instead of rectangular? Relive it all now! Fair warning though, the episodes are pretty old and you will see plenty of white people squinting in yellow face using generic “oriental” accents and there are no seizure warnings before the screen tries to strobe you blind.
You’ll also have to put up with a few ads for Amazon Prime shows and of course Twitch chat, which can be good or bad depending on the mood of the viewers.
It’s a good antidote for AGDQ withdrawal symptoms.
Discussions about Lev Grossmans The Magicians invariably lead to comparisons with the Harry Potter books. Both are urban fantasy series about people who wield awesome magical powers, living in the same world as us and the schools where they were taught to use them. The similarities end there however. Hogwarts is a highschool and Brakebills is a college. While the Potter novels each recount a single year of school, The Magicians covers an entire fours years of college in the first book and the next two are all about growing up and life as an adult. One of the things I enjoyed about J.K. Rowlings books was how the language and themes of the books matured as the readers did. Lev Grossman treats his readers as adults from page one. The themes he explores are deep and complex, mostly about how we view the world and our relationships in it. Where most unpleasant things in the Harry Potter books happen in bloodless, Disney like manners or completely “off camera”, in The Magicians books they are violent, bloody and in your face. So I wouldn’t recommend it to readers still in primary school, but if you’re ready to graduate…
Continue reading “The Magicians. A book trilogy and a series on SyFy”
Okay, so they are e-books, but they are from a real publisher by well established authors and they really are free. A while back(1999) writer Eric Flint and his publisher Jim Bean wanted to see if making books available free of charge would encourage or discourage the sale of physical books and as a result the Baen Free Library was created. They made a large number of books by their most popular authors freely available for download in DRM free epub and .mobi formats. Turns out that they accidentally stumbled on the same formula drug pushers have been using forever. Give someone something they like for free, and they will happily pay for more. Sure as hell worked with me.
Continue reading “Free books! Free books!”
For those who have never heard of it before, but are wondering “what is Urban Fantasy?” it is a fiction genre that takes fantastical elements (magic, vampires, werewolves, demons, etc.) in a modern urban setting. Buffy, Supernatural, True Blood, Diana Tregarde are all examples of urban fantasy and The Dresden Files is the one I love best.
Continue reading “For fans of Urban Fantasy, I recommend The Dresden Files”
One of the cool things about Alexa is that she can make lists for you. Just finished the last of the milk (*cough* icecream *cough*) and want to remind yourself to pick some up? Just say “Alexa, add Chunky Monkey to the shopping list” and she’ll add it to your shopping list.
But that list is only accessible via the Alexa app and the Alexa app isn’t great for lists. You’ve got to navigate through a couple submenus to get to the lists and there’s no way to organize things easily. Plus when you’ve got a whole weeks worth of shopping to add to it, you’re either going to go hoarse reciting all the items or your finngers will get tired. There has to be a better way.
There is a better way!
Continue reading “I started using AnyList”Awesome Games Done Quick 2019 is at the midway point and has alread raised over half a million dollars for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. If my article last week got you curious enough to check it out but you were confused by some of the things people were saying, I decided put together a small glossary of the most common terms used by the announcers and runners.
Late to the party, as usual 