On Cats – Yes, the Movie

Cats was a movie I didn’t know I needed until I saw it. I was excited as I told my plan to my wife. It’s New Year’s Eve, we should end 2020 in the most 2020 way possible, by finally watching the movie that everyone agreed was a disaster. I was impressed with my own …

On Tomorrow’s World

The BBC show Tomorrow’s World played a large part in my childhood. It was a science show, showing us the gadgets and tech that would be a part of our future. Mostly, the stuff it showed seemed to disappear, never to be heard of again. A promise of a utopian, technology-filled future, that was destined …

On Reviewing The Matrix

Honestly, I love movies, but I’m not much interested in writing film reviews. Not that they’re not worth writing - just that there are plenty of that kind of writing to go around. If you think of any movie, someone out there has described it, told you whether you should like it, and we’ve all …

Newsletter: October 1, 2020

Hello, innocent bystander. This is either my attempt at contributing something positive in These Trying Times, or it’s me finally cracking up. Either way, thanks for being here to witness whatever this is. I want to add a little light, a little levity, in what are at best uncertain times. Yes, I am a hero. So, …

On Reviewing Brigham Plaza

I was lucky enough to receive a free, advance copy of a book from the author, Daniel Verastiqui. Like I was a real journalist or something. It felt…significant, like I was being given something to care for. I liked it. And then I had to review it. Daniel self-publishes, and that route to publishing immortality …

On What I Do Best

So, I wondered to myself recently, what is the tell-tale sign that we’ve stopped writing about dystopias and are instead living in one? Just a random thought. Have you ever looked at your life skills, or lack thereof, and thought, “I would be absolutely useless in a Mad-Max-style global apocalypse”? I know it’s not just …

On The Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass

It seems I can’t get enough of movies passes. The Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass is my third try at making a movie pass part of my monthly outgoings, and my third failure. But, let me start with this: The Alamo Drafthouse (AD) pass is by far the most positive experience I’ve had so far. I …

On Being a Lyrics Guy

It’s a curse, being a lyrics guy. It can, I’m fairly confident, drive a person mad. I have a for-instance, you'll be relieved to learn. We’re currently watching the excellent Ken Burns series on Country Music, learning so much and being reminded of how great those songs were. Remember Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight”? A …

On Jesus of Montreal

In my mid-teens, these are the things I used to prove that I was cooler than you (despite so much evidence to the contrary): A copy of Plato’s Republic (library copy, largely unread and definitely not understood) that I carried everywhere, including to my first ever date.My love for the movie Jesus of Montreal. Or, …

Books That Made Me

Based on the Guardian series, here. The book I am currently reading I'm very good at starting books. The book that changed my life I guess it would be the first one I copy edited and the author didn't complain. I wish I could remember what it was. The book I wish I’d written So …