Ron

@Krista I’m going to ask you to beta-read my next writing adventure. If you make that much effort to critique a sloppy made-for-Amazon series then you’ll be the perfect foil for any sloppiness of mine. 😉

I think yours is a fair opinion of the series. I watched it through over a couple of nights and I agree with you overall on the acting, especially the two main characters — and their backstories weren’t all that great either.

An anomalous thing is that Amazon Prime updates the thumbnail photo for the series on their app as if it were something new and exciting — which it is (sort of) in that the creators have constructed a new interpretation of an original story. But here we are again with an episodic story cancelled before it has the opportunity to garner a larger audience just when it is on the cusp of achieving that goal. Amazon muckity mucks seem to have a poor attention span for storytelling but are high on advertising. Well, you shouldn’t be surprised when advertising doesn’t meet follow-through.

The author of this post posits*: "... the author sees there characters." I'm guessing this came from 'Otter-Steve' with which we are well familiar from the many, many posts on GA that will NOT be referenced forthwith (if you must ask - you don't belong). And, as @Headstall* (Secretly, but not so secretly ... Gary.) might say, "Cheers!" *Common mistake. They, They're, Their, Thiers and Thier's are all too commonly confused one for the other. Here there might be help ... They have a dog. (Yikes!) They're going to (Unthinkably) bring a dog to my barbecue. (No matter that I have repeatedly told them that I am allergic to dogs.) Their dog is going to be the death of me. (I can feel my throat constricting.) Thiers is an opinion that I do not hold. (Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.) Their's is incorrect in every usage. (No! Don't ever use it! Or bring your dog to my house!) There (You didn't think I would let that one slide by, did you?) you have a list of all the homophones of them that I can think of. * @Headstall "Gary" has neither endorsed this post nor given permission to use his likeness nor nom de plume. (But it is public information. So, I feel safe. Thanks, Gary! Er, I mean @Headstall.) Cheers!

I hate to hear studios say that a production is financially unfeasible. Why? Instead of making a billion dollars in profit per season they instead make millions and call it unprofitable — greedy, greedy, and greedy. Now, I definitely wasn’t on board with everything they did with this franchise. But I wasn’t disgruntled enough to want to see the show cancelled. But it seems to me that the online squawkers also had an influence on the decision to cancel the show.

It's been a while, and I will be going through a necessary change of address (otherwise into the netherworld of on-the-street living I go), but I have been running some ideas round-and-round for the Creature Feature anthology inside the old noggin. I hope that I can bring those ideas to fruition. If that were to happen -- be prepared to be amazed. (You couldn't hear it but there was an actual snort there at the end.)

Ron is sad. There are no more excuses (er, season episodes) for him to rag on for in continuity, vis a vis the original, original. Oh, woe is me. What shall I do now?

Frankie Goes to Hollywood came out in 1984. What a bang it made on the dance floor of Gay venues. But it was more than just a one trick pony … Relax was an immediate hit, but as time reaches on one begins to appreciate the greater achievement of the album as a whole work. One of those songs is worth a mention — Two Tribes. But, The Power of Love was ‘our’ song back then — when I was young and in real love for the first time … and, Keeping the Vampires from our door was a real thing, because other men were always out to steal something that they didn’t have … even if it was just for a night. I still remember all of words, though. Unfortunately, YouTube has made it difficult to replay the original video for most music. All that it use to require was touching the screen and then copying the url and pasting it here. The copying doesn’t work for me anymore. If you have a workaround please let me know.

The new Imagine Dragons release is a rather hit and miss effort for me. And, to complicate things they’ve released at least two versions titled differently. Typically, I would listen to something new a couple of times to get a feel for the rhyme and rhythm of the work before beginning any critical listening … But, I have to say right off the bat that the songs presented here having a great amount of electronic manipulation, are the failings of this otherwise reasonably listenable album. FYI: I’m a fan of the band, so this isn’t some over generalized put down.

Listening to INXS (from the Way-Back history of 1987-88) because sometimes you just need a little KICK. Edit to add: @Jason Rimbaud You may appreciate my wording. 😎

After that last episode of season three I can honestly say that the show has disregarded anything and everything the books had to say about anything and everything. That is not me being funny! This season has been working loose and indifferent with the canon all along, but what with this last episode the producers have gone on a tangent all of their own creation. Any expectations of a conjoining of the series with the books is off limits for this series’ writers, and it is, sadly, a deficiency of remote accuracy. Yes, I know, they don’t give a rat’s patootie for canon but characters are subjected to situations and scenarios that don’t exist in the books — and they are beyond the pale. After having watched this episode twice, I deem the end result to be a failure of monstrous infidelity. Just my opinion.

I’ll just leave this here for the cognizanti. Oh, sorry. I didn’t vet the entire video so there may be nudity and that’s a no-no. Well, I guess you won’t know what you’re missing. Onward: After watching Season three - episode seven all I can say is: Yea, Perrin! Of course, this was a must-have episode. What with Perrin’s being a ta’veren (Ha! I had to go into a book’s glossary to remind myself of the spelling), he must come into his own strength and position during this age. I think that Isabelle Bucceri who plays Faile is stunningly and absolutely magnificent in her part (she comes into her own here, too) and is an example of brilliant casting for this character. Sadly, of course, as in every episode of this interpretative drama there are shortcomings: jumps in the timeline just to mention one of them. Even if we can’t expect better it’s worth noting nonetheless. One day - one day …

Fink’s newest release: Beauty In Your Wake is a stunningly great work. If you’re into music that moves the more adult interest of GA, then this should be on your radar. I’ve gone back and listened to earlier works by the artist — and the music is good — but here Fink surpasses his earlier work in my opinion. Well worth a listen!

I just finished listening to Elton John’s and Brandi Carlyle’s new release called Who Believes in Angels?. BORING! Man did these two artists miss the boat and landed in the water. This album is NOT a work for the time we live in, it isn’t even a comfort because it sounds so downbeat despite its musical pretensions. Clearly, more than anything else, I believe it is a swan-song for Elton, though sadly not a good effort at that. Save yourself; don’t expect miracles from this work.

I just finished with episode 6 and what a doozy it is. Emotions are running low to high and back again only to return once more. It’s like ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, so to speak. The magic scenes are really powerful in their display. The show still stretches for various elements of the books and slaps you in the face with a thing in the wrong spot, but as has been established the series cannot follow the actual timeline — or it would never end, and all the actors would be old and gray.

WOW! This Welsh guy is something else. Sadly, he acquired Lyme disease which was misdiagnosed for years and developed autoimmune conditions and subsequent brain damage. This is from 2022, he is now thirty-five-years old. This song is about all of it, at that time. Again, I say, WOW! Rap, spoken word, a conversation between light and darkness and his guitar playing is a thing of beauty.

Gasp! You’re still using the iPhone 4? 🤯 I still have an iPod classic which uses that connection, and I have the connection cord and charging puck — not that I actually use the thing. My understanding is that it’s a collectible nowadays. My sister has my old and donated iPhone 4s hidden in a closet somewhere, in the dark where it belongs. 😉

Nice to see a fellow Citizen of the Commonwealth is getting a warm-up in temperatures while here on the North-coast it remains all too chilly. I spent most of my time this week scouring the Boston Globe and WAPO for any signs of a breakthrough in the tension many of us in the U.S. are feeling, and then there is the music — I usually listen to an album or two (digitally) of various artists each day. So, @wildone and anyone else: How do you listen to music — What’s your medium of choice?

Wow, I just realized that this story is now ten years old. I’m glad to know that you picked it up. Many thanks for all the acknowledgments for the story and for our friend’s comments. Additional thanks for the accurate story review, this is a rather difficult topic for the telling and for the reading. It is, of course, a pleasure to hear that you ‘couldn’t stop reading’. I leave Max Cauler’s further existence to speculation — I see you’re on board with the plan. Thank you, Bill.

Have any of you read New Spring from 2004? It’s a prequel of sorts released in the middle of TWoT’s books, about the time everyone began saying the series was getting bogged down, if you will. If you’ve read it I’m sure you found it to be a breath of fresh air when it was released. It was as if Robert Jordan found that point of focus that Rand al-Thor was always trying to achieve, where everything locked in place and all of the extraneous elements dropped away. What we are given then is in fact a new beginning and a fresh perspective when returning to the trenches (so to speak).

Nothing to forgive. Thanks for the compliment about my … flare. That is not something I usually get compliments for. In fact it’s something I’m not known for. Go figure? I think everyone gets bogged down around book seven. But as I said, one must accept the unavoidable truth — one gets what they’re gonna get. We know this for a fact (we are both authors) that you can’t please everyone.

Act one. Scene one. Ron is seen finishing reading a post made by a good friend concerning the series The Wheel of Time. He pushes his chair back as he stands, a shocked look upon his face as he looks at the computer screen. His hands clasp involuntarily to his chest, each palm flat and fingers widely splayed. He cry’s out: “Oh, Gary!” Ron then spreads his arms outward, shoulders wide, his hands seemingly beseeching for some unavoidable truth. Ron speaks quietly, plaintively : “Aren’t we long-time friends, Gary? Didn’t we join Gay Authors dot org about the same time? How can you say that you don’t care for Robert Jordan’s exquisite detail? How can you say that you don’t care for chronological order?!” Ron draws his right hand tightly into a fist and pushes it against his lips - pauses - then slowly drops his head and hands in anguish. We are left with the visage of a man standing, illuminated in the bad lighting of his computer who thought that he knew his friend well. End of scene. 😬

The abdication was much later, after having fled an unrecoverable situation. The Queen was never described as ‘Old’ but as one of those beauties of youthful years having mellowed into an appearance of fine bearing and underlying integrity — glimpsing the remembrance of youth. Good observation. This aligns with my memory, and with a large dollop of arrogant deceit and self worth. Why, no. Due to an inversion of time and space, the White Cloaks are back doing what they’re good for doing. Um, what they’re usually up to — which is up to no good. This is sad. 😔 Shame! Shame on you! It doesn’t matter if it’s precisely represented (is that a word?) — it’s science-fiction fantasy and we don’t get enough of it.

Wow, I’m listening to Radiohead’s In Rainbows and it’s absolutely (or - effing) brilliant! One song leading into the other just makes me want to listen to the next song. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to this and I’m just now listening to the work in a newish space (I’ve been here nearly one-point-five years) for the first time. Every time you listen to a work of music in a new space it’s different (I’m not making this up) and it strikes you differently. I’ve spent a not insignificant amount of time getting my system to ‘sing’ in a way that I know that it can do here in my newish environment. The room dimensions have changed in … well, every dimension — from 4,000 cubic feet to 2,400 cubic feet, nearly half of the space. Attempting to incorporate two thirteen inch SVS sub-bass drivers with a pair of full-range Bowers and Wilkins floor standing speakers (683 S2) capable of reaching in-room bass response of 46Hz +/- is difficult. I will say that I think that I have the right of it. My music system is humble when considering the money you can spend if you’re looking for the absolute sound $$$$. But, with a little luck and some sacrifice a very musical system is available. The music sounds so good!

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet. I recently watched the first season on Hulu (with advertising no less) and it’s not bad. The Ignorant Angels Serra Ylmaz who plays the character of (wait for it) Serra is one of the supporting actors. About a dozen +/- years ago I had the pleasure of hosting Serra for dinner at my former home in Boston along with the contemporary curator from the Gardner Museum in Boston (visit if you’re ever in the city) and my ex who was then Curator of the Collection (a fancy title meant to convey the authority of the position) at the Gardner. I don’t remember to many specifics of the evening but I do remember having an overall sense that it was a pleasant event. Oh, and I was the chef, as always for these special occasions — well, and daily, too 😉, but I only remember serving a dish of mixed olives that I had nothing to with creating and a lump crab dish (I no longer have the recipe, I looked for it) served along with a absolutely delicious Chablis. That’s it, I can’t recall what the entree was or what wine I served with it — that’s what happens over time, I guess.