R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 22

Marketing Covers for Flames of Perdition

A lot of things have gone wrong over the past year, but a lot of things have gone very, very right.  One of the things that went really, really well is a marketing version of the current covers for Flames of Perdition series (the Del/angel books).  I found some fun images that I wanted incorporated together (perhaps for an omnibus version of the books) and found an artist on Fiverr who works cheap—Bobooks.
For sixteen bucks, it’s actually a really good cover.  Technically, I had...

Why Poets Are Awesome

And yet, her cold, dead eyes haunt me.Consider a "simple" Dickinson poem:
Because I could not stop for Death -He kindly stopped for me -The carriage held but just Ourselves -And Immortality.
In just the very first line, Dickinson conveys the sentiment of most mortals. We have much to do, much we would wish to accomplish, much and more that we'd like to see and experience. Some of us, toward the end, might welcome Death (pe...

The Call Up - Movie Review

No Trons were harmed in the making of this film.The idea of an immersive gaming environment is very enticing.  Add a cash prize for the top player, and a fully VR/AR game suddenly becomes an offer you can’t refuse.
That’s the premise of writer-director Charles Baker’s The Call Up (available on Netflix).  This low-budget scifi, first-person-shooter (FPS) is not a bad way to spend an evening after the kids have gone to sleep.  Set in the near-future, and based on similar FPS games...

In Which I Feel Really Bad

When a soccer ball comes along . . . Last night, at my eldest son’s insistence request, I played scrimmage soccer with his team at their last practice.  Many parents did.
Spoiler: We lost.
I found it interesting to step back onto a field after so many years of just watching my sons play.  It’s one thing to yell, “Pass!” “Take the shot!” or “Clear it!” and quite another to actually be asked to do the same.
I do have a slight edge in that I played Utah AYSO and was on my high school...

Halloween Was Scarier Than Usual

These kids are actually walking and singing.Good Afternoon Castle View Parents,
At this time Castle View Elementary has been placed on lockdown due to a disturbance inside of a classroom. Riverside Police Department is on site and actively working to resolve the situation. All students are being evacuated to a safe location off-campus. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot release any students until the lockdown order...

Absynthia

I just wanted to let you all know that

If You Can't Take Back the Bullets, At Least You Can Send More!

I didn't even like the guy!In what has to be the most blatant and openly political move by the National Rifle Association, bump-stock legislation has stalled and will likely die.
Look, I get it.
As something of a firearms policy wonk, I know that the number of mass shootings, or shooting in general, which have used bump-stocks is exactly one.  The likelihood of bump stocks being used for future mass shootings is marginal at best.  Of course, now that they’re known, your run-of-the-mil...

Chatting With Sherri II

I did another internet radio podcast thingy.  You can listen to it here:

Chatting With Sherri

Scouts and the Scouting Scouters

Eagles.  Eagles everywhere.Girls have actually been able to do "scouting" for some time now, but as part of the "Venture Scouts" program, not the Cubs or Boy Scouts.
I'm mixed on this. The BSA didn't so much decide to accept girls, as they arrived at the conclusion that they're tired of going to court to defend an archaic system of non-inclusion. That system was partly maintained by the LDS church having the BSA in an armlock, and threatening to take their chunk of boys out if the BSA cav...

You Can't Take Back a Bullet

The beginning—not the only, not the end.There has been NO END of discussion about gun violence, gun control and gun rights.  That’s good.  That needs to continue happening.  That degree of concern and pressure needs to burn and boil and then hiss on the stovetop.  Out of reading and discussion I finally was able to sum up the bulk of my thoughts on the subject.
tl;dr version: Humans aren't responsible enough to handle firearms.
Caveat: I'm a gun owner. I spent part of my for...