Joseph Baneth Allen's Blog, page 42
February 11, 2024
Doctor Who Main Range #257 - Interstitial/Feast Of Fear
Just finished listening to "Doctor Who Main Range #257 - Interstitial/Feast Of Fear" released by Big Finish Productions.
This release covers two adventures of the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, and his new companion Marc.
In Interstatial, The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, and Marc travel to a space station where an experiment in time has gone horribly wrong.
In "Feast of Fear," the Doctor and Nyssa have been separated from Tegan and Marc and found themselves caught in the middle of a circus being run by an evil psychic alien who feasts on the emotions of others in the midst of Ireland's great famine.
There is a suggestion in both stories, that Marc, who is from ancient Rome, that Marc is not completely thrilled with traveling with the Doctor because they are always going to the future.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Interstatial-F...
This release covers two adventures of the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, and his new companion Marc.
In Interstatial, The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, and Marc travel to a space station where an experiment in time has gone horribly wrong.
In "Feast of Fear," the Doctor and Nyssa have been separated from Tegan and Marc and found themselves caught in the middle of a circus being run by an evil psychic alien who feasts on the emotions of others in the midst of Ireland's great famine.
There is a suggestion in both stories, that Marc, who is from ancient Rome, that Marc is not completely thrilled with traveling with the Doctor because they are always going to the future.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Interstatial-F...
Ernest & Celestine - A Trip To Gibberitia
Just finished watching "Ernest & Celestine - A Trip To Gibberitia" released by Shout Studios.
About 12 years have passed since "Ernest & Celestine" was released, and this sequel effortlessly picks up the story of this lovable pair with the same vibrant watercolor animation the endeared fans of the first movie.
Where "Ernest & Celestine" was an exploration of Celestine's world, "Ernest & Celestine - A Trip To Gibberitia" is a look and exploration of Ernest's home and the family he left behind in order to pursue his dreams of being a musician in the outside world - the laws of Gibberitia force children to follow their parents' careers.
So when Celestine accidentally breaks Ernest's Stradivarius Violin, she embarks on a journey to Gibberitia to get her friend's violin fixed, and Ernest follows to save Celestine who doesn't know what she is heading into.
It's a grand journey and I hope it won't be another 12 years or more before another "Ernest & Celestine" movie is released.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Celesti...
About 12 years have passed since "Ernest & Celestine" was released, and this sequel effortlessly picks up the story of this lovable pair with the same vibrant watercolor animation the endeared fans of the first movie.
Where "Ernest & Celestine" was an exploration of Celestine's world, "Ernest & Celestine - A Trip To Gibberitia" is a look and exploration of Ernest's home and the family he left behind in order to pursue his dreams of being a musician in the outside world - the laws of Gibberitia force children to follow their parents' careers.
So when Celestine accidentally breaks Ernest's Stradivarius Violin, she embarks on a journey to Gibberitia to get her friend's violin fixed, and Ernest follows to save Celestine who doesn't know what she is heading into.
It's a grand journey and I hope it won't be another 12 years or more before another "Ernest & Celestine" movie is released.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Celesti...
February 10, 2024
What An Owl Knows
Just finished reading "What An Owl Knows" by Jennifer Ackerman, published by Penguin Press.
One of the quickest ways a writer can derail an otherwise engaging and informative non-fiction books is to report on how a volunteer who helps care for injured and recovering owls hates former President Trump that wasn't relevant to anything that Ackerman covered about research into various species of owls. Okay, a volunteer working on rehabilitating owls hates President Trump.
Why this is important to research into owls and why is this one person's glaring hatred of a former American President even mentioned? Ackerman shines when she describes an education program designed to teach people about the importance of owls for farmers in South Africa.
Owls are the least studied of the raptors, but much is known. One major problem in studying owls is how well they can camouflage abetted by roosting in difficult to spot locations. Also, many do not come back to the same spots to nest each year, rather looking for density of prey. Modern technologies are currently being used in detecting them, but one effective approach was to train a dog to sniff out the pellets owls ejected in defecation in roosting and nesting spots.
Dealing with the broad spectrum of species, the natural approach is to devote each chapter to a topic like migration, which is what Ackerman does later in the book. Incidentally, owl migration is often sex specific. The females fly south to fatten up for the demanding act of reproduction, while males may stay close to nesting grounds to be early in staking out territories for the next year, hoping to survive till until spring. Within at least one specie, there is assortment by size: smaller females actually seek out smaller mates. The likely explanation is that this helps the species survive, as being small helps in years in which food is scarce.
Ackerman gives a comprehensive and compelling look into how the numerous species of owls interact with the natural world.
Unfortunately, I can't give Ackerman a 5-Star review because she needlessly went political when there was absolutely NO reason to.
Strongly Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/What-Owl-Knows...
One of the quickest ways a writer can derail an otherwise engaging and informative non-fiction books is to report on how a volunteer who helps care for injured and recovering owls hates former President Trump that wasn't relevant to anything that Ackerman covered about research into various species of owls. Okay, a volunteer working on rehabilitating owls hates President Trump.
Why this is important to research into owls and why is this one person's glaring hatred of a former American President even mentioned? Ackerman shines when she describes an education program designed to teach people about the importance of owls for farmers in South Africa.
Owls are the least studied of the raptors, but much is known. One major problem in studying owls is how well they can camouflage abetted by roosting in difficult to spot locations. Also, many do not come back to the same spots to nest each year, rather looking for density of prey. Modern technologies are currently being used in detecting them, but one effective approach was to train a dog to sniff out the pellets owls ejected in defecation in roosting and nesting spots.
Dealing with the broad spectrum of species, the natural approach is to devote each chapter to a topic like migration, which is what Ackerman does later in the book. Incidentally, owl migration is often sex specific. The females fly south to fatten up for the demanding act of reproduction, while males may stay close to nesting grounds to be early in staking out territories for the next year, hoping to survive till until spring. Within at least one specie, there is assortment by size: smaller females actually seek out smaller mates. The likely explanation is that this helps the species survive, as being small helps in years in which food is scarce.
Ackerman gives a comprehensive and compelling look into how the numerous species of owls interact with the natural world.
Unfortunately, I can't give Ackerman a 5-Star review because she needlessly went political when there was absolutely NO reason to.
Strongly Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/What-Owl-Knows...
Falcons of Narabedla
Just finished reading "Falcons of Narabedla" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, published by ACE Books back in 1964 as part of their ACE Double Line, and released as a single book back in March 1979.
The late Marion Zimmer Bradley is a problematic author because of her nasty personality and the undisputed fact that she was a pedophile who not only raped and sexually abused her own daughter, but other young children of both genders as well. I believe the Marion Zimmer Bradley's crimes were a long open secret in the Science Fiction Community and that she was given a pass because of her strong support of the LGBTQ community in the late 1960s on up until her death.
And in the interest of full transparency, I did submit a short story to her "Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine" and I received a rather brutish, nasty, and rude rejection letter from Bradley. I did sell the story shortly after receiving that and it has been reprinted a few times over the passing decades, but I suspect it gave her some kind of perverse delight to be unprofessional to other writers and act out on her baser instincts. I suspect that Marion Zimmer Bradley was a "Karen."
"Falcons Of Narabedla" is one of her early Darkover novels which was originally a short story that she expanded into a short novel. It is also a good indication of how she truly thought of her most popular Science Fiction creation that endeared itself to readers for its rather brash mix of fantasy elements in a hard core science fiction universe. Bradley is on the record of wanting to kill off and put an end to her Darkover universe, but the Darkover novels helped pay her bills - her words, not mine.
"Falcons of Narabedla" is perhaps the weakest of all of the novels that she wrote by herself, and although it does contain elements of her Darkover universe, it's not truly a Darkover novel. Darkover is the planet of the Bloody Sun, there's never a mention of a second sun in the Darkover sky and in the introduction Bradley states that she wanted to pay homage to the lost world novels that appeared in Argosy, Blue Book, and Weird Tales magazines that she enjoyed reading as a young girl.
There are elements of Darkover in "Falcons of Narbedla" with the mention of the towers and dreamers, but little else, though there are some elements that Bradley would later expand upon in her novel "Two To Conquer" which explored the end of the Age of Chaos in Darkover's history.
Michael Kenscott, who was a radioman/researcher for the Army, is transported to the Rainbow Cities in the far future, after an accident has left him with the strange ability to summon electricity along with a strange fear of falcons and eagles.
There are a lot of plot holes in this short novel and one glaring one is that Michael doesn't seem to care about the fate of his brother who got left behind in the past or back on Earth. And I don't recall zombies ever being a part of the lore of Darkover.
Not Recommended.
Zero Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Falcons-Narabe...
The late Marion Zimmer Bradley is a problematic author because of her nasty personality and the undisputed fact that she was a pedophile who not only raped and sexually abused her own daughter, but other young children of both genders as well. I believe the Marion Zimmer Bradley's crimes were a long open secret in the Science Fiction Community and that she was given a pass because of her strong support of the LGBTQ community in the late 1960s on up until her death.
And in the interest of full transparency, I did submit a short story to her "Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine" and I received a rather brutish, nasty, and rude rejection letter from Bradley. I did sell the story shortly after receiving that and it has been reprinted a few times over the passing decades, but I suspect it gave her some kind of perverse delight to be unprofessional to other writers and act out on her baser instincts. I suspect that Marion Zimmer Bradley was a "Karen."
"Falcons Of Narabedla" is one of her early Darkover novels which was originally a short story that she expanded into a short novel. It is also a good indication of how she truly thought of her most popular Science Fiction creation that endeared itself to readers for its rather brash mix of fantasy elements in a hard core science fiction universe. Bradley is on the record of wanting to kill off and put an end to her Darkover universe, but the Darkover novels helped pay her bills - her words, not mine.
"Falcons of Narabedla" is perhaps the weakest of all of the novels that she wrote by herself, and although it does contain elements of her Darkover universe, it's not truly a Darkover novel. Darkover is the planet of the Bloody Sun, there's never a mention of a second sun in the Darkover sky and in the introduction Bradley states that she wanted to pay homage to the lost world novels that appeared in Argosy, Blue Book, and Weird Tales magazines that she enjoyed reading as a young girl.
There are elements of Darkover in "Falcons of Narbedla" with the mention of the towers and dreamers, but little else, though there are some elements that Bradley would later expand upon in her novel "Two To Conquer" which explored the end of the Age of Chaos in Darkover's history.
Michael Kenscott, who was a radioman/researcher for the Army, is transported to the Rainbow Cities in the far future, after an accident has left him with the strange ability to summon electricity along with a strange fear of falcons and eagles.
There are a lot of plot holes in this short novel and one glaring one is that Michael doesn't seem to care about the fate of his brother who got left behind in the past or back on Earth. And I don't recall zombies ever being a part of the lore of Darkover.
Not Recommended.
Zero Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Falcons-Narabe...
February 4, 2024
Sacred Places
Just finished listening to "Sacred Places" by Hollan Holmes, released by Spotted Peccary Music.
I discovered Holmes by chance years ago when his first self-released album was recommended in a Facebook feed. I'm glad that I decided to take a chance on a new musician back then.
Holmes’ third Spotted Peccary release pays homage to the Berlin School of New Age/Space Age/Electronic music pioneered by artists like Tangerine Dream and the late Klaus Schulze. Holmes uses sequence-driven rhythmic melodies to sonically capture the spiritual and emotional energy for a mono-mythical excursion.
My favorite tracks on "Sacred Places" are: "Temples of Stone," "Bristlecone," "Hallowed Ground," "A Light Unto The World," and "Sacred Places."
Perhaps Holmes' best CD to date.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/sacre...
I discovered Holmes by chance years ago when his first self-released album was recommended in a Facebook feed. I'm glad that I decided to take a chance on a new musician back then.
Holmes’ third Spotted Peccary release pays homage to the Berlin School of New Age/Space Age/Electronic music pioneered by artists like Tangerine Dream and the late Klaus Schulze. Holmes uses sequence-driven rhythmic melodies to sonically capture the spiritual and emotional energy for a mono-mythical excursion.
My favorite tracks on "Sacred Places" are: "Temples of Stone," "Bristlecone," "Hallowed Ground," "A Light Unto The World," and "Sacred Places."
Perhaps Holmes' best CD to date.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/sacre...
The Telemass Quartet
Just finished reading "The Telemass Quartet" by Eric Brown, published by the Drugstore Indian Press.
When Matt Hendrick's daughter Sam died from an incurable disease, he and his then wife Maatje placed her in suspension until a cure could be found. Then after their divorce, she and her lover, Dr. Hovarth, kidnap Sam in her suspension pod, Hendrick then chases them across the galaxy in a quest to rescue Sam from their intentions on using deadly alien revival techniques on Sam that may cure her or doom her to a permanent death.
A great thrilling chase where the desperation of two parents takes divergent paths with perhaps the same goal, but a mother's love can also be twisted into hate for her ex-husband and take an insidious twisted revenge.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Telemass-Quart...
When Matt Hendrick's daughter Sam died from an incurable disease, he and his then wife Maatje placed her in suspension until a cure could be found. Then after their divorce, she and her lover, Dr. Hovarth, kidnap Sam in her suspension pod, Hendrick then chases them across the galaxy in a quest to rescue Sam from their intentions on using deadly alien revival techniques on Sam that may cure her or doom her to a permanent death.
A great thrilling chase where the desperation of two parents takes divergent paths with perhaps the same goal, but a mother's love can also be twisted into hate for her ex-husband and take an insidious twisted revenge.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Telemass-Quart...
Forerunner Foray
Just finished reading "Forerunner Foray" by Andre Norton, originally published by The Viking Press back in 1973.
I suspect that I'm about to court some controversy with this review, but I firmly believe that "Forerunner Foray" is one of Andre's stand-alone novels that only bears a rather tenuous link to the her Warlock duet. Although it does make make reference to Warlock and Ris Lantee is the son of Chris Nordholm and Shann Lantee, "Forerunner Foray" doesn't really continue the story of Warlock and is set entirely on different worlds outside of Warlock.
Also odd about this novel is that it includes a disclaimer of sorts from Andre about parapsychology and psychometry, defending the works of T.C. Lethbridge, a British archaeologist who embraced some rather "unorthodox methods" in Anglo-Saxon studies.
As a child on the luxury world of Korwar, Ziantha was rescued from an intergalactic refugee-camp-turned-slum called the Dipple. A member of the all-powerful Guild discovered that the girl had super-normal talent, including the ability to 'read' objects, and he trains her up as a thief.
Ziantha has broken into the apartment of High Lord Jucundus, loaded to the gills with high-tech gizmos and, of course, her own esper abilities. She psychometrizes (reads) the microrecordings that she was sent to find and is about to leave the apartment, when she is almost felled by a psychic demand for her attention. It is a dusty lump of clay on Lord Jucundus's knick-knack table. Ziantha resists the urge to steal it, but the next morning she returns to a park next to the apartment building and apports (psychically transports) the ugly little object into her possession.
Her Guild masters discover Ziantha's extra-curricular thievery, and after their initial anger they become intrigued by the strange object which has psychically bonded itself to their errant apprentice. Buried within the clay is a Forerunner artifact called a focus-stone.
The alien artifact has an agenda of its own. It wishes to be reunited with its 'twin' and leads Ziantha and her masters to a burned-off planet, then hurtles the psychic back through time, into the body of a war slave who has been chained into her captor's tomb!
As she struggles to breathe, Ziantha-now-Vintra realizes that the corpse beside her is moving. Another psychic has been dragged through time by the focus-stone and dumped into the body of the deceased enemy general.
Ris Lantee is the valiant hero of "Forerunner Foray." He suffers an even worse fate than Ziantha in that he is transferred into the body of the dead warrior and ruler, Turan and must spent a large part of the novel keeping the corpse reanimated while he and Ziantha quest for the second focus-stone.
Ris-now-Turan is finally in such bad shape that Ziantha must make a solo quest further back into the burned-out planet's history in order to recover the second focus stone.
Aside from revealing that this branch of the Forerunners were involved in an armed conflict, Andre doesn't reveal too much about the alien races that proceeded Humanity and others into the galaxy.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Forerunner-For...
I suspect that I'm about to court some controversy with this review, but I firmly believe that "Forerunner Foray" is one of Andre's stand-alone novels that only bears a rather tenuous link to the her Warlock duet. Although it does make make reference to Warlock and Ris Lantee is the son of Chris Nordholm and Shann Lantee, "Forerunner Foray" doesn't really continue the story of Warlock and is set entirely on different worlds outside of Warlock.
Also odd about this novel is that it includes a disclaimer of sorts from Andre about parapsychology and psychometry, defending the works of T.C. Lethbridge, a British archaeologist who embraced some rather "unorthodox methods" in Anglo-Saxon studies.
As a child on the luxury world of Korwar, Ziantha was rescued from an intergalactic refugee-camp-turned-slum called the Dipple. A member of the all-powerful Guild discovered that the girl had super-normal talent, including the ability to 'read' objects, and he trains her up as a thief.
Ziantha has broken into the apartment of High Lord Jucundus, loaded to the gills with high-tech gizmos and, of course, her own esper abilities. She psychometrizes (reads) the microrecordings that she was sent to find and is about to leave the apartment, when she is almost felled by a psychic demand for her attention. It is a dusty lump of clay on Lord Jucundus's knick-knack table. Ziantha resists the urge to steal it, but the next morning she returns to a park next to the apartment building and apports (psychically transports) the ugly little object into her possession.
Her Guild masters discover Ziantha's extra-curricular thievery, and after their initial anger they become intrigued by the strange object which has psychically bonded itself to their errant apprentice. Buried within the clay is a Forerunner artifact called a focus-stone.
The alien artifact has an agenda of its own. It wishes to be reunited with its 'twin' and leads Ziantha and her masters to a burned-off planet, then hurtles the psychic back through time, into the body of a war slave who has been chained into her captor's tomb!
As she struggles to breathe, Ziantha-now-Vintra realizes that the corpse beside her is moving. Another psychic has been dragged through time by the focus-stone and dumped into the body of the deceased enemy general.
Ris Lantee is the valiant hero of "Forerunner Foray." He suffers an even worse fate than Ziantha in that he is transferred into the body of the dead warrior and ruler, Turan and must spent a large part of the novel keeping the corpse reanimated while he and Ziantha quest for the second focus-stone.
Ris-now-Turan is finally in such bad shape that Ziantha must make a solo quest further back into the burned-out planet's history in order to recover the second focus stone.
Aside from revealing that this branch of the Forerunners were involved in an armed conflict, Andre doesn't reveal too much about the alien races that proceeded Humanity and others into the galaxy.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Forerunner-For...
January 31, 2024
A Wedding
Just finished watching "A Wedding" released by 20th Century Fox.
Now Robert Altman's movie was considered an "event movie" when it finally came to HBO and Showtime back in 1979. I do remember that Mom, Dad, Selma Franz, and I watched this movie when it first aired on cable and were first eager to watch in, but we kept losing interest in the movie. To be fair, it is a bit of a rambling dark comedy with a few controversial scenes thrown in - including the "is groom" or "isn't he" being raped shower scene. I do remember it being blurred out in the original cable run. Here in this version, both men are in their underwear, but it's still not too clear about what's going on in the shower. And note, the bride walks in and later says that she saw them together in the shower.
Altman appears to be sniggering at two families or are going over the top based on money alone is at once snide and amusing. And the cast! Amazing but the one that takes the Palme d' Weird is played by Mia Farrow who, although in most of the scenes, never says a word. It's a parody or a travesty of every over done wedding you've ever attended, pretentious, hysterical-the family has to suit up their household help to masquerade as invited guests, the security guards, the families....Altman has directed the families with a certain love that both exonerates and collapses them. It's amusing to watch Dina Merrill, a very social, very wealthy woman, play a character who is married to what might be an Italian criminal (Vitorio Gassman) Then there's Carol Burnett who almost overplays , almost gets back to Mama's Family but Altman keeps her on the froth of happiness without getting bitchy. So many interesting performance, so many unexpected occurrences....and Robert Altman handles them all deftly right up to the final denouement...which turns out to have its own twist.
Yet here's my problem. No one in this movie is likable.
Recommend for Robert Altman fans.
Three Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Mia-Fa...
Now Robert Altman's movie was considered an "event movie" when it finally came to HBO and Showtime back in 1979. I do remember that Mom, Dad, Selma Franz, and I watched this movie when it first aired on cable and were first eager to watch in, but we kept losing interest in the movie. To be fair, it is a bit of a rambling dark comedy with a few controversial scenes thrown in - including the "is groom" or "isn't he" being raped shower scene. I do remember it being blurred out in the original cable run. Here in this version, both men are in their underwear, but it's still not too clear about what's going on in the shower. And note, the bride walks in and later says that she saw them together in the shower.
Altman appears to be sniggering at two families or are going over the top based on money alone is at once snide and amusing. And the cast! Amazing but the one that takes the Palme d' Weird is played by Mia Farrow who, although in most of the scenes, never says a word. It's a parody or a travesty of every over done wedding you've ever attended, pretentious, hysterical-the family has to suit up their household help to masquerade as invited guests, the security guards, the families....Altman has directed the families with a certain love that both exonerates and collapses them. It's amusing to watch Dina Merrill, a very social, very wealthy woman, play a character who is married to what might be an Italian criminal (Vitorio Gassman) Then there's Carol Burnett who almost overplays , almost gets back to Mama's Family but Altman keeps her on the froth of happiness without getting bitchy. So many interesting performance, so many unexpected occurrences....and Robert Altman handles them all deftly right up to the final denouement...which turns out to have its own twist.
Yet here's my problem. No one in this movie is likable.
Recommend for Robert Altman fans.
Three Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Mia-Fa...
"Hitorijime My Hero - Complete Collection"
Just finished watching "Hitorijime My Hero - Complete Collection" released by Sentai Filmworks.
Now when I was a Physics Major at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, I had three quarters of Intermediate Japanese for the language requirements of my degree. One of the things we used to do is to meet outside of class to practice our Japanese language skills in random social settings and one of our favorite meeting places was Aslan's Lair, a cafe off campus. Now Lynne, my Japanese Professor who I still write to, will probably kill me for telling this story; but I was the first to arrive one day and while I was waiting for Lynne and my fellow classmates to show up, a young Japanese man started hitting on me. I politely declined his advances and he wandered off and then Lynne arrived and I told her what happened. She thought I was nuts. "You're mistaken," Lynne told me. "Japanese men aren't gay."
Then he approached me again, and asked me out. Lynne went off on him and told him off. He beat a very hasty retreat.
Nowadays Lynne is an expert in anime. So when I received this, I thought it would be amusing to review it for old time sakes.
Just to review my rules, I will watch, read, and/or listen anything just as long as it is not obscene, x-rated, and/or illegal.
"Hitorijime My Hero" does not violate my rules in any fashion despite being a BoyLove anime.
Basically Masahiro Setagawa has been having typical life problems. His dad's gone, his mom's apathetic, and the local delinquents have turned him into a lackey and errand boy. Rescue comes in the most unexpected form, however, when a street fighter known as "Bear Killer" puts the beat down on the bad boys and takes Masa under his protective wing. Yet Masa already knew his rescuer, because not only is Kousuke Oshiba the older brother of Masa's best friend Kensuke, he's also Masa's homeroom teacher.
Masa has a lot of angst with the realization that he's attracted to Kousuke and then both of them have to worry if their relationship will be discovered.
Honestly the BoyLove theme is more than a bit disturbing to me, but it is an acceptable part of Japanese culture.
Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DXS2KH8?...
Now when I was a Physics Major at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, I had three quarters of Intermediate Japanese for the language requirements of my degree. One of the things we used to do is to meet outside of class to practice our Japanese language skills in random social settings and one of our favorite meeting places was Aslan's Lair, a cafe off campus. Now Lynne, my Japanese Professor who I still write to, will probably kill me for telling this story; but I was the first to arrive one day and while I was waiting for Lynne and my fellow classmates to show up, a young Japanese man started hitting on me. I politely declined his advances and he wandered off and then Lynne arrived and I told her what happened. She thought I was nuts. "You're mistaken," Lynne told me. "Japanese men aren't gay."
Then he approached me again, and asked me out. Lynne went off on him and told him off. He beat a very hasty retreat.
Nowadays Lynne is an expert in anime. So when I received this, I thought it would be amusing to review it for old time sakes.
Just to review my rules, I will watch, read, and/or listen anything just as long as it is not obscene, x-rated, and/or illegal.
"Hitorijime My Hero" does not violate my rules in any fashion despite being a BoyLove anime.
Basically Masahiro Setagawa has been having typical life problems. His dad's gone, his mom's apathetic, and the local delinquents have turned him into a lackey and errand boy. Rescue comes in the most unexpected form, however, when a street fighter known as "Bear Killer" puts the beat down on the bad boys and takes Masa under his protective wing. Yet Masa already knew his rescuer, because not only is Kousuke Oshiba the older brother of Masa's best friend Kensuke, he's also Masa's homeroom teacher.
Masa has a lot of angst with the realization that he's attracted to Kousuke and then both of them have to worry if their relationship will be discovered.
Honestly the BoyLove theme is more than a bit disturbing to me, but it is an acceptable part of Japanese culture.
Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DXS2KH8?...
January 30, 2024
"Doctor Who Main Range #256 - Tartarus
Just finished listening to "Doctor Who Main Range #256 - Tartarus" released by Big Finish Productions.
It's very rare for the Doctor to gush like a fan boy over a historical person from Earth's history, but in this outing of the Fifth Doctor finds him finally deciding to meet one of his favorite Romans, Cicero, and taking Nyssa and Tegan along, but requiring them for once to dress appropriately for the era so that they don't stick out like a sore thumb, especially since Cicero wrote everything down.
So when an unusual display of Northern Lights descends upon Cicero's villa during a nighttime party, the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, Cicero, and his slave Marco take refuge underground in an icehouse, they get whisked away to another dimension where they must embark on a quest for the key to escape, only all is not what it seems and the fate of a new companion is hinted at.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Monthly...
It's very rare for the Doctor to gush like a fan boy over a historical person from Earth's history, but in this outing of the Fifth Doctor finds him finally deciding to meet one of his favorite Romans, Cicero, and taking Nyssa and Tegan along, but requiring them for once to dress appropriately for the era so that they don't stick out like a sore thumb, especially since Cicero wrote everything down.
So when an unusual display of Northern Lights descends upon Cicero's villa during a nighttime party, the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, Cicero, and his slave Marco take refuge underground in an icehouse, they get whisked away to another dimension where they must embark on a quest for the key to escape, only all is not what it seems and the fate of a new companion is hinted at.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Monthly...
