VERSUS: Episode 9: Division VIII: Rock Album Deathmatch: Light Rock, Live Rock, Rage Rock and Prince

Previously, on VERSUS . . . The eight albums of Division VII—featuring works from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, The Doors, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and The Grateful Dead—faced off in the gladiator pit, with Pink Floyd getting the emperor’s thumbs-up. In this episode, another eight albums enter […]

The Walking Dead: Compendium Four, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano & Cliff Rathburn — a review

At the conclusion of Season 8 of AMC’s The Walking Dead, I announced—in typical, over-dramatic fashion—that I was stepping away from the television series for a while. Actually, I may have said that I was done with the series, implying that this was a permanent type of situation. It had become popular to threaten to […]

Truth Seekers: Season 1 (Amazon) — a review

I was first introduced to Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in a wonderful little British television series called Spaced. I’m sure I watched it through Netflix, back when I was still receiving those silver discs in the mail rather than streaming everything I watch. The show originally aired on the UK’s Channel 4 between 1999 […]

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 3 — a review

I am a Trekkie. Getting me to admit this fact when I was in my 20s—even my 30s—would have been like pulling teeth. And, not those easy teeth along the front that everyone can see when you have a huge cheese-eating grin, either. I’m talking about one of those back teeth that have roots which […]

Firewater’s Reading Habits (a short questionnaire)

I brazenly “borrowed” this one from one of my friends. You can read Maddalena’s responses here. I know you can read. But, only you know if you’re a Reader. We are a curious breed Do you have a certain place at home for reading? The short answer is “No.” I read in our home office, […]

The “Nameless” Series, by Dean Koontz (digital collection) — a review

I’ve owned other digital books. But, I believe this may be the first time I’ve ever owned professionally written fiction that exists only in digital form. I downloaded all six of these novella-length stories onto my Kindle Fire a while back. They were either free to me as an Amazon Prime member, or so cheap […]

Hell on Wheels: Season 2 — a review

Recap of my Season 1 review: I liked it a lot (and not just because of the Trek connection with Anson Mount and Colm Meaney). When I’ve read reviews for Hell on Wheels written by people who aren’t me, I see the series Deadwood referenced quite a bit. I haven’t watched that show yet, although […]

More Music Facts Learned While Looking Up Other Things

This post was inspired by the late journalist Sydney J. Harris who would occasionally write a column he called “Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things,” in which he included bits of trivia that just didn’t fit into any other column he was writing. My wife and I were watching an old episode of […]

The West Wing: Season 6 — a review

Some viewers hated Season 5 of The West Wing. Not me. It has been my least-favorite season of the series so far, but I gave it a report card grade of A-minus. That’s respectable. Certainly not hate. I think most of the critical backlash against the series was because of the departure of Aaron Sorkin. […]

10-List: Quotidian Quotes Redux

“Quotidian” is a fancy word that means “commonplace” or “everyday,” which is a little ironic. “Redux” is another fancy word that means “brought back” or “revived.” This 10-List is another collection of everyday wisdom (and a few wisecracks) from your ol’ pal Firewater, the wisest man in my home office. For a person who has […]

Super Bowl 2021: Who Cares?

Tonight, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, in Tampa, Florida, at 6:30 pm Eastern Time (which is 5:30 pm here in central Arkansas). I plan to watch it, even though I shouldn’t care about the outcome. With the pandemic, I’ve found it difficult to get interested in […]

The Boys: Season 2 (Amazon Prime) — a review

The second season of Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys—based on the celebrated graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson—has made me thirsty (in the original sense of the word) for Fresca. It also made me wonder if Amazon and Coca-Cola weren’t somehow in collusion to drive up the sales of the carbonated grapefruit-based beverage […]

Looking Forward (February 2021 Update): Meet the New Year

This is the quadmonthly happiness report for February 2021. It’s a New Year. But, as always, we define happiness as always looking forward to something. I was looking forward to the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. It has now ended. Hoo-ray! I’m looking forward to the end of this pandemic as well. Vaccinations have begun, […]

Welcome to Twin Peaks:/\/\ First-Watch Recap: Season 2: Ep. 2.13 “Checkmate” (Original airdate Saturday, January 19, 1991) — a review

Welcome to my First-Watch of the original 30 episodes of the 1990-91 television series Twin Peaks. Below are the bulletpointed notes I jotted down while watching the episode “Checkmate.” On this day in history, actor John Russell dies. A US Marine in WWII, Russell was a supporting actor in many westerns, including three with Clint […]

The Essential Uncanny X-Men: Vol. 1, featuring Stan Lee & Jack Kirby (Marvel Comics)

You have to know what you want when you’re ordering an X-Men omnibus collection. This “Essential” volume collects the first twenty-four issues of The X-Men, which didn’t become Uncanny until issue #95, after a five-year hiatus between 1970 and ’75, when no new X-Men stories were published. The “Essential” volume that contains issue #95 is […]

The Mandalorian: Season 2 (Disney +) — a review

This review will not be entirely spoiler free. If you plan to watch the series, please do so before you read this. What does it say when the best Star Wars programming I’ve seen in recent years is on television? I’m talking about The Mandalorian, of course. I started watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars […]

The Top Keeps Spinning (Or: How Do I Get There, You Liar?!?: a brief digression about philosophy and logic and the importance of morning routines)

Most days, when I wake up, I know what I’m going to do. I’m usually wrong, of course, because—well, you know, life intervenes. But, during the pandemic, each day became pretty much like the one which preceded it. Here’s my usual routine. I wake up when the sunlight pouring through my west-facing bedroom windows becomes […]

VERSUS: Episode 8: Division VII: Rock Album Deathmatch: A Pinch of Glam, A Dash of Psychedelia, and a Genesis Frontman Grudge Match

Previously, on VERSUS . . . The eight albums of Division VI—featuring works from Marcy Playground, Weezer, Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden—faced off in the Octagon, with Pearl Jam’s Ten taking home the trophy. In this episode, another eight albums enter the fray. This time, the competitors […]

Post #800: One Million Words

You’re not going to believe this. Not only is this my 800th post here, but somewhere in the body of this article, I will have self-published my one-millionth word on WordPress. I was fifty-one or fifty-eight words away from the million before I began typing. Here is fifty-one, if that was it. Here is fifty-eight, […]

Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4), by James S. A. Corey — a book review

I’m watching Season 5 of the Amazon series The Expanse as the episodes drop, which means I’m probably already into the plot of the novel published after this one, Nemesis Games. It doesn’t matter. Season 4 covered a lot of what happens in Cibola Burn, and I never felt that watching the streaming series before […]

The “Inside the Actors Studio” Questionnaire

James Lipton, the longtime host of Inside the Actors Studio, passed away in early 2020 at age 93. I never considered myself a regular viewer of his television show, but I would watch it if it was on and the guest was someone interesting. Lipton was an interesting cat himself. The son of a Beat […]

10-List: Tarantino Films (Ranked)

This list of Quentin Tarantino movies does not include his segment from Four Rooms, “The Man from Hollywood,” although it’s worth watching. Nor does it include whatever part of Sin City he directed. QT also directed an amateur short film that I’ve never seen (and has, reportedly, been partially lost) titled My Best Friend’s Birthday. […]

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1 — a review

I still listen to Matt Mira and Andy Secunda’s podcast, Star Trek: The Next Conversation. At least, I listen to whatever’s on this side of the paywall; my entertainment funds are stretched a little too thin for me to be a huge Patreon contributor. I first heard about Star Trek: Lower Decks on this podcast. […]

It’s a Good Record, Man: “All By Myself,” by Mike Jones

https://jonesjazz.bandcamp.com/album/all-by-myself If you’ve ever seen Penn & Teller’s show at the Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada, chances are you’ve watched Mike Jones perform. When I was in Vegas a few years ago (in my native language, “a few years ago” refers to anything from five to thirty years ago), Sharon and I treated ourselves to […]

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