James Pyles's Blog, page 28

Rewellagans

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. “Rewellagans,” insisted five-and-a-half year old Joannie Palmer as she pointed up at the machine. She had led me into a glade I’d never visited before, one covered with several varieties of long grasses and surrounded by tall but otherwise unremarkable trees. […]

Film Review of “They Live” (1988)

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. I’ve been seeing memes based on this film for years, but last night I finally got around to watching John Carpenter’s They Live (1988) starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster. This is supposed to be one of those “cult […]

Anhedonia

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. A storm was coming. It was perfect. A trick of the wind let him hear the laughter of old men swapping jokes at the nearby truck stop. Wyatt trudged through the freight yard. Old, rusted cargo containers were stacked high around […]

Odd Man Out

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. For a chain, Joe’s Crab Shack had lots of personality. It fit how Mickey saw the life he used to live. Now he had bigger problems, his co-workers. “Hey, there he is,” shouted Nate waving him over to their table. “About […]

Little (Synthetic) Girl Lost

It was illegal for her to be in Shenzhen let alone to time shift into the past. Fortunately, she had enough power left to transmogrify into a western tourist and evade her pursuers. As she boarded the double-decker street bus, she did attract some male attention, but for predictable reasons. He kept a home in […]

Book Review of “Hauser’s Memory” (1968)

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. I finished my re-read of Curt Siodmak’s classic novel Hauser’s Memory a few days ago but this is the first chance I’ve had to write about it. I know I originally read the book some decades ago but remembered very little. […]

Toxic Fandom and What is “real” Star Trek?

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. After the controversial Star Trek Strange New Worlds musical episode and whatever latest mess actor Robert Beltran (who played Chakotay on “Star Trek: Voyager”) stepped in, the question once again comes up, “What is a true Star Trek fan?” We could […]

A Few Centuries More or Less in the Man Cave from Hell

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. “Oh now, it’s not all that bad,” said the Dark Prince. I reacted in appropriate horror. “Are you kidding? It’s hideous. Could we just go with the traditional lake of fire with demons wielding pitchforks?” I knew I was whining, but […]

DVD Review of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023)

A few days ago, I checked out a DVD of the film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) at the public library (so it didn’t cost me a cent) and got around to watching it yesterday. First of all, I miss the “Wombats” (Michael Peña as “Luis,” David Dastmalchian as “Kurt,” and Tip T.I. Harris […]

Book Review of Joe Haldeman’s novel “Camouflage” (2004)

I just got done reading Joe Haldeman’s novel Camouflage. I used to read Haldeman a lot back in the day. I loved classics such as The Forever War and All My Sins Remembered. It was after reading his novel The Accidental Time Machine that I said I’d never read him again (more on that later). […]