Cancer

by on August 2, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

My mom has been fighting cancer again, for the forth time, for a few months. Well, more accurately Mayo Clinic figured out she had it and put her on a new targeted treatment in testing right now that costs thousands of dollars a dose. The company developing it gave it to mom for free. The Clinic has been administering it under her normal healthcare plan. She is out no money. Only the time it takes to go to the clinic. For a couple years now, food she used to like no longer tasted good to her. And one of the side effects of the cancer she has is loss of taste. So we think she had it for a while. Some weeks ago, I started asking her if food was tasting good again. And she noted that she thought it was. Well, this week, she said out of the blue that food really was good again. She volunteered it. Out of the blue. Thank God for the Mayo Clinic.

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The Confederation of Dixie

by on August 1, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The rioting and looting in Mobile had many long-term effects for Alabama. The first was the rise of the corporate towns that protected the largest industries around Mobile. The second was the rise of bedroom communities in the area. The fires burned down many of the businesses and homes in Mobile, and many corporate towns housed their workers and families in temporary barracks to keep them safe. They often found that nothing remained of their homes or neighborhoods when the crisis was over. So they rebuilt, often simply by moving their container houses away from the port, and this time they built walls and hired permanent security to maintain the peace. What had once been considered a luxury of the rich became a requirement of the working class to be able to live. Walled communities and security guards. It became their new normal after the Second Great Depression.

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Nostalgia and Jack

by on July 31, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I write my own Jack of Harts stories because I am nostalgic for the stories of my youth. Back when the Big Damn Heroes stood tall and proud and fought for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Or the Federation or the Rebel Alliance, or whatever. When the chips are down, they step forward and do something, rather than wallow in “whoa is me” angst. The world they come from is generally good, where we have generally built a world we would like to live in. It has room for improvement, but it is no dark dystopia. In short, I write stories about generally nice people defending a generally nice world from the people who would take that life away. With some snarky attitude, smart mouths, and quick wits of course. It is my way of trying to promote a positive view of the future, and what we could build in it. While making it fun for most people to read, no matter their background.

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Nostalgia and Remakes

by on July 30, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Some stories can arrive with a bang that resonates with everybody. Continuations or remakes of those stories sometimes they do well. Sometimes they do not. Many of the most popular stories have had many continuations or remakes. He-Man. GI Joe. Thundercats. Transformers. Star Trek. Star Wars. These have all had some good and some bad in their extended universes. It is especially hard for a creator to make a good continuation after a less popular one spoils interest. This generally involves getting back to the basics of what made the story popular to begin with. Maybe bring back an old villain or hero the fans know well, or create someone entirely new who putters around the outside of the original story. A well done example of this can rekindle the nostalgia that fans feel and bring a flagging story back into popularity again. Such efforts should be rewarded. I have spoken.

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Nostalgia and Remakes

by on July 29, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Bringing this back around to the recent He-Man remake, Teela has always been one of the cornerstones of the Masters of the Universe. The Captain of the Guard of Castle Grey Skull, daughter of the Sorceress, possibly the daughter of Man-at-Arms, the wife of Prince Adam and mother of a new generation of Masters in some stories. Brave and loyal partner to He-Man across a thousand battlefields. Seeing her react to the death of He-Man and the defeat of the other Masters could have been the brilliant start of an amazing story. Instead they reinvented her into an angsty teenager with trust issues, who throws the world away because she is angry at everyone she grew up with. Add in some longing lesbian tension, and you have the standard modern Hollywood “brave subversion” of a popular heroic character. One that is a pale imitation of the Teela we knew. This is not a nostalgic remake.

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