G.R. Linden's Blog, page 23

How Have You Not Seen That?- Star Wars: A New Hope

This Thursday Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens will open in cinemas across the globe and when it ends its run I have no doubt that it will do so as the highest grossing film of all time. Such is the power of the Star Wars franchise to influence pop culture and shape our imaginations. And nowhere will the Force be felt more heavily this week than here at The Eclectic Eccentric. To start this Wookie-tastic week off right we’ll look back at the movie that started it all and ask the quest...

On the Shelf- The Colour of Magic

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if Mel Brooks had decided to sit down and write a fantasy novel? Me too. And I’ve decided that the result would read a lot like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. And if that’s not something you’d be interested in I question your life choices. Full confession I’ve read Colour of Magic more than a few times and while it is not my favorite entry of the twenty plus novels set in Discworld it is up there. It’s also the first in the series and so as...

Subtitle Subversives- Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Given how many films I’ve watched, rated, and reviewed over the course of my life I think that it is not too much of a stretch to call myself a cinephile. Much too pretentious certainly but not too much of a stretch. I’m a fan of films that range from the golden age of the Hollywood studio system to underground Korean revenge epics. But one glaring hole in my knowledge base has always been Bollywood. The closest I’d gotten to an Indian produced film was Slumdog Millionaire which when I read i...

World Building 101- Geography

As a genre writer and general fan of fantastical worlds built from the ground up it’s amazing to me just how many writers overlook the “ground” part of that expression. Some authors get so excited about the cool weapons and magic and exotic life forms of their world that they forget about the actual physical world that their creations must inhabit. While that kind of mistake might not necessarily ruin a good story it can lead to logical inconsistencies that take the reader out of the realm yo...

Science! For Parties!- Flaming Pine Cones of Christmas Cheer

Thanksgiving is over. Christmas lights are being hung around town. Shoppers are bustling about trying to find the perfect present for that special someone. Yep that magical season is upon us again. Get excited because it’s Office Holiday Party Time! And when it comes to office holiday parties I think we all know who the coolest person in the room is, why the person doing mind blowing science tricks of course. So if you want to be the cool cat at your workplace shindig keep reading because thi...

A General Update

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Eclectic Eccentric. Or perhaps I should say welcome back me after my semi-intended month long hiatus. I say semi-intended because while I had decided to step away and not post during the month of November, the impetus behind that was to build up a queue of posts that would sit in a folder just waiting to be unveiled in order to give you, my faithful reader, a more stable and regular diet of new and informative diatribes. Unfortunately, my plans where und...

Mind Blown- Quantum Entanglement

We’re officially nine days from Halloween and that means here at the Eclectic Eccentric it’s time to get Spoooky!!! Well at least spooky if you’re a fan of Albert Einstein, personal physics hero of yours truly. What am I rambling about? Why the topic of today’s Mind Blown of course: Quantum Entanglement. Or as Einstein once contemptuously called it “spooky action at a distance”.

We’ll get to the reasons for Einstein’s disdain in a bit but first a little bit of background. Quantum Entanglement...

Character Study- Holly Golightly

No matter how practical you are or how cynical you become there is always a small part of you that desperately wants to believe in love at first sight. When Audrey Hepburn steps out of that cab in the early dawn dressed to the nines, small paper bag in hand you are enthralled. By the time she pulls out her coffee and Danish and you see the reflection of her oversized, dark glasses in Tiffany’s venerated windows you are infatuated. In one simple scene the world’s love affair with Holly Golight...

It’s the Economy Stupid- Glass-Steagall

If you’ve been paying attention to the presidential campaign trail at all (and I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t) then you’ve likely heard the phrase Glass-Steagall pop up on more than one occasion. In fact it was mentioned no less than a dozen times during the first democratic presidential debate. Those of you without a background in finance or possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of 1930’s congressional legislation you be asking what exactly it is that everyone is talking about and why...

Wily Wordplay- Cheesy Pickup Lines

Hey everybody! With the world being such a serious place right now I thought it would be fun to take a break from the depressing and have a bit of a laugh. How you may ask? Why with cheesy pickup lines of course. So here is a list of some of my favorite one-liners to try out on that certain guy or gal who has caught your eye. (Disclaimer: None of these lines have been known to work. Ever.)

I’m Mr. Right, someone said you were looking for me? I’m sorry, were you talking to me? [No] Well then,...