
Happy New Year, everybody!
My New Year’s resolution: to finally finish the first draft of Bringer of Light and get the editing done by summer.
Thanks for reading this blog. Best wishes to all of you for a safe and prosperous 2022!

January 1, 2022

Happy New Year, everybody!
My New Year’s resolution: to finally finish the first draft of Bringer of Light and get the editing done by summer.
Thanks for reading this blog. Best wishes to all of you for a safe and prosperous 2022!

December 27, 2021

In case you didn’t know, the entire film of Akira has been available on YouTube since 12/23…in Japanese.
Kanedaaaaaaaaaaa!
Still, it’s free. I first watched it (in badly translated dubbed English) on the big screen in a cheap arts cinema in 1991.
Glorious.
Bought the original Japanese comics (MUCH better than the movie, which barely covers the first volume) and then the English translated comics. Then got the collector’s edition movie with a new English translation (both subtitles and dubbed).
Tetsuooooooo!
It’s online for free until 12/28, so if you’re sick of Santa movies go check it out!
Kanedaaaaaaaaa! Help me…..!
(It’s meant to advertise the upcoming Katsuhiro Otomo Complete Works manga collection, available at the end of January.)
Tetsuooooooooooooo!
December 26, 2021

The James Webb Space Telescope – Hubble’s successor – has successfully lifted off.
Now starts the “two weeks of terror” as it gets into position and unfolds. Fingers crossed! 🤞
December 16, 2021

The original article title?
“Astronomers Detect Secret Water Reserves in The Largest Canyon in The Solar System”
Science isn’t quite as catchy. The hydrogen may indicate water in the form of permafrost 3 feet and more under the surface.
The high-hydrogen region is about the size of the Netherlands, and overlaps with Candor Chasma, one of the largest canyons in the Valles Marineris system.
Looks like there may be some competition for who gets to land near here first…
https://www.sciencealert.com/hidden-water-has-been-found-in-the-soil-of-mars-grand-canyon
December 14, 2021

Writing can be a struggle for writers of all levels, from beginning to professional. The struggle has a dreaded name: writer’s block. Writer’s block …
Getting Yourself to Write
I’ve never really experienced the so-called “writer’s block.” Not that I’m bragging…but I often just don’t find I have enough time to write.
By which I mean, writing seriously. It’s easy, however, to find time here and there just to jot down some random thoughts.
(Aside note: if you type really quickly on the WordPress smartphone app, it autocorrect “random” to “radon,” which would put you in an entirely different frame of mind.)
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December 11, 2021
Well, the writing was already on the virtual wall from the beginning. The anime had only one season.
White fanboys got butthurt by the use of diverse actors – anime is anime, but live action is real actors in the real world where “race” and ethnicity are still issues and women don’t actually look like hourglasses.
Ratings plummeted after the initial hype. Netflix always panders to the masses, so this is not surprising.
Adios, amigos. See you, space cowboy.
— Read on soranews24.com/2021/12/10/there-will-not-be-a-season-2-for-netflixs-live-action-cowboy-bebop/
December 10, 2021

The Bradbury Building is well known (Blade Runner, 1982), but do you know these other locations?
Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, city halls, abandoned mills, even a high school in Texas…
(An older article, but still interesting…too many movies rely entirely on green screen these days…)
December 9, 2021
Sorry, everyone, for the lack of posts lately!
I wasn’t able to post short stories and news from my smartphone (which is what I had been doing on the train to work) bc I went way over my ISP plan and got throttled for about a week.
Then December started, and work got really busy. And I look up and suddenly realized I haven’t even watched more than the first ep of the live action Cowboy Bebop.
(It was OK. Too many guns and not enough kung-fu.)
I’ll get back to regular posting soon.
In the meantime, here’s a picture of what it looks like on the hiking trail behind my house. (“Wild dogs and boar suddenly appear. Beware!”)

(Yes, I have seen a few. They come with their piglets down to the creek near us at night and then on the property next door dig in the ground with their tusks, looking for bugs to eat.)
November 26, 2021
I started writing stories when I was in 5th grade. Our teacher gave us a list of vocabulary each week — about 10 to 12 words, I think — and said we had two choices: 1) write down all their definitions along with a sample sentence, or 2) work them into a short story to show that we understood the meaning of the words.
I chose the 2nd option. In fact, I was the only one who did out of a class of about 25.
The thing is, the teacher wanted us to read them at the front of the room.
Man, that was not something I was looking forward to. But somehow I managed.
I wrote nothing but detective stories, all in the first person. At some point, I borrowed my mother’s old manual typewriter (originally my grandfather’s, from the 1950s) and typed them all out. I still have most of them.
But my peak as an elementary school age creative writer came part-way 6th grade, when I attempted to write my first horror story.
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November 25, 2021
Between a hated Marvel movie, a quarterback in space, and ‘the worst movie ever made,’ there are so many sci-fi flicks just waiting to be rebooted.
— Read on screenrant.com/cheesy-science-fiction-movies-that-deserve-remakes-reboots/
I agree with some and totally disagree with others.
A remake of Flash Gordon?
🙆♂️ Sure! (The original is campy, but the comic strip it’s based on was fairly dramatic.)
Logan’s Run?
🤔 Would make a much better series than a one-off (a movie remake is currently in “development hell”).
Howard the Duck?
🤢🤦♂️
Are you kidding? 🙅
What do you all think?
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