Hieronymus Hawkes's Blog, page 9

Is Black Widow the best Marvel Movie so Far?

From the first Marvel movie with Natasha Romanoff I have loved this character. She is merely human, and yet she kicks five tons of ass. Her fighting style and quickness always impressed me. But now we get the full backstory.

Spoilers follow, so turn away now if you know nothing about the Marvel Universe or missed the entire Infinity War:

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I have seen some people bellyaching about how this is a waste of time since we all know the character died. But guess what? It’s a not only a great story, full of emotional drama and grit and what family really means, but it is also a comic book character. They might just bring her back someday. Who knows. Was I upset when she died in the Infinity Wars? Yes. Did that take away my enjoyment of this movie? Not in the least.

It also presents us with the new character of Yelena Belova. I adore her! She is snarky as fuck and kicks just as much ass as her sister, and before you say it I know they are not really sisters, but in most every way that matters they are. Her character should headline a new series. She’s that good.

David Harbour’s character of the Red Guardian was spot on! He was incredibly narcissistic to point of it actually being funny. But he also has a character arc.

I thought the plot worked and had just enough twists to keep me invested. Yes, it is sad that there is not a long future for Natasha, but I will enjoy every iteration that they have the sense to make. I’m hoping for more.

The movie was smart and filled to the brim with action sequences that made me howl with delight. I found my enjoyment of this movie on par with the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which is hands down the best of the lot.

I give Black Widow my highest endorsement!

Best Book Title Ever

I endorse this sentiment. Journaling is fine, but the idea behind it rocks!

Introducing the Dee Gees!

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-57524428

I am 100% down for this! The album is Hail Satin and comes out July 17th. We love the FooFighters!

Fuel to start the day

It was a beautiful Sunday here and we went out for a little breakfast at 5-Points Fuel Cafe in Lafayette, Indiana. Had a quiche and a bagel and a mocha latte. Life is good!

They have a beautiful garden in front of the place. See for yourself:

Perfect synchronicity

“Synchronized swim routine, duck duet catagory” by Lorie Shaull is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

So this happened the other day while driving with my life accomplice:

Car swerving across the line coming toward me on a two lane road >

In perfect unison we both say:

Dude

Dude

Dude

Fuck!

, as he swerves back into his lane.

I love her so much!

Round the Fountain Art Fair

I moved to Lafayette in April and I do love it here. This weekend they had their fair celebrating local artists, and it was the first one in three years do to bad weather and the pandemic.

There was a lot of wonderful stuff including jewelry, paintings, pencil drawings, and pottery. Here is a sampling of some of the stuff we bought today:

Stephanie Pierson-Hutson of Pondscum Ceramics Brian Beam Pottery Brian Beam Pottery Brian Beam Pottery Brian Beam Pottery Carrie Wild of Wildworks

We talked to a lot of artists and had a wonderful time. The potter, Brian Beam, was a joy. The pandemic affected his business in such a way that after 20 years of successful business solely as an artist, he had to find a fulltime job. He has basically stopped doing his incredible art. What he does now is very cool, as a craftsman building WWI vintage biplanes by hand. I hope he finds time to get to his art. It was an awesome day!

Project Hail Mary – Weir is Back!

Finished the Audiobook version this week. I loved The Martian, but found Artemis lacking. But Andy Weir is back in from with Project Hail Mary. It opens to a narrator that has no idea where he is or why or what is going on. He slowly pieces things together, like the fact that he is alone on a spaceship. I won’t say more to save spoilers but it is simply a phenomenal story.

Ray Porter does the reading and he is perfectly cast as a frustrated Junior High science teacher. His read was right on the money and we could feel the anxiety, irritation, and resentment in the main character.

The science details are extremely well done, which is what made The Martian so good. It is brilliantly done to give the impressions of how difficult the things that are happened actually are without boring us. Just the right touch.

So much to love about this from the characterizations to the plot to the finish. Just when you think they have a situation figured out, it escalates. Didn’t see how he was going to get out of several of these but Weir does a wonderful job keeping the pages turning. 5 stars easy. I would give it 6 if that was an option.

I can’t wait for his next book now.

The InD’tale Review is Back!

The review is back and they gave Effacement 4.5 stars out of 5 in the May issue of InD’tale Magazine.

“”Effacement” is a clever, well-balanced near-future tale with seamlessly integrated, carefully thought-out tech and a perfectly paced plot. The gritty, attention-trapping action makes the pages flash by! The author has created a fully fleshed out, likeable hero. The romantic element takes a back seat to the futuristic corporate intrigue, but the inventive technology and smooth pacing will hold the readers’ attention until the very last moment. Traces of the science-fiction masters are threaded through this entertaining read. Inspired story-telling, gripping action and a tantalizing hint of romance make this an engrossing sci-fi read. Hieronymus Hawkes is definitely an author to follow!”

–Starling Gray

Can’t decide

I’m not sure I need either of these but I really want one. Found these at Home Depot in the garden section.

Enjoy an Offbeat song!

I was listening to my Pixies Radio channel on Pandora yesterday and this song came on and I have to admit that I love this so much!