A Tale of Two Conans

Posted on May 7, 2023 by JC

Conan – Blood of the Serpent by S. M. Stirling, Titan Books, December 6th, 2022

Last month I reviewed The Siege of the Black Citadel by “The Legend” Chuck Dixon. I mentioned in the review that it was the first I had read that wasn’t written by Robert E. Howard (excepting comics). I expressed that I was reluctant to read stories by other authors because I didn’t believe they could live up to Howard’s work but that Dixon came very close which is high praise.

Late last year, the first new Conan novel since 2011 was published by Titan Books some months before Dixon’s new story was out. This is written by S.M. Stirling who has been a published author since the 1980s though I hadn’t heard of him until now. Blood of the Serpent is written as a prequel to what is probably Howard’s most recognised story, Red Nails and indeed, the events are so closely tied that it is included at the back. When I noticed my library had a copy, I thought it would be worth reading to compare with both Howard and Dixon.

It wasn’t but read on as I elaborate.

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The Game of Corporate Marketing

Posted on April 23, 2023 by JC

Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo by Reggie Fils-Aimé, HarperCollins Leadership, August 3rd, 2022

As can be gathered from the many posts on the subject, my interest in video games goes beyond playing them. I have read a number of books on the history of video game development and the various people and companies behind them. These books vary in quality and depth but the majority do what they set out to do. Last year I reviewed Beyond Donkey Kong by Ken Horowitz which was an excellent history of Nintendo’s arcade games — a subject previously neglected due to their far more prominent success in the home console market. Before that was Ask Iwata,  a business focused book put together after the death of Satoru Iwata, the former CEO of Nintendo Japan. The latter, as I said in the review, is more the business of video games than anything and the book being reviewed in this post by the former president of Nintendo of America is much the same — even more consciously so.

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The Siege of the Black Citadel Review

Posted on April 15, 2023 by JC

The Siege of the Black Citadel by Chuck Dixon, Castalia House, February 23rd, 2023

Although I’ve been supporting Castalia House since it began, it has been a long time since I reviewed a book from the publisher. Almost seven years in fact as the last and (and in fact only one) was a review of Cuckservative: How “Conservatives Betrayed America by Vox Day and John Red Eagle. I was stoked that Vox even responded to the review on his blog. I have reviewed quite a lot of books that I’ve liked and disliked and it is more likely I’ll review one I dislike or want to offer commentary on. As I have tended to simply enjoy Castalia House releases, I often don’t have much to say though promoting good work is important.

To begin to rectify my lack of support, I will be reviewing this new Conan story by “The Legend” Chuck Dixon which is available now from Arkhaven.

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Street Fighter: Ludicrous Fun

Posted on April 10, 2023 by JC

As I write, the new Super Mario Bros. Movie has been released in theatres. I haven’t seen it yet but I will be this week with my son who is around the same age I was when the live-action Super Mario Bros. film released in 1993 — thirty years ago next month. I quipped that he at least got a better film than I did when I was his age. Indeed, video game adaptations began with that notorious film and with few exceptions, haven’t improved since. The following year adaptations of both Street Fighter and Double Dragon were released followed (in 1995), with Mortal Kombat; which I reviewed a long time ago. The Mortal Kombat film had its flaws but was generally thought to be the best of a disappointing series of early video game adaptations.

Even today, it is arguable that there has never been a “good” film based on a video game but I would reject such an argument. This is simply because I don’t see film as the sophisticated medium that many do. Generally speaking, if I want something highbrow — I’ll read a book. That is not to say that I see no art in cinema but that I believe the strengths of the medium are found more in genres with wide appeal than in the arthouse. The films I believe best take advantage of the medium are ones with a lot of spectacle to them so I tend to prefer action/adventure films over the average film that gets nominated for an Academy Award or is shown at an avant-garde film festival. And as I spent a weekend a few weeks back reading a paperback called Dinosaur Beach, I also enjoy “lowbrow” books as well as more sophisticated novels.

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Teaching and Following the Curriculum

Posted on April 6, 2023 by JC

“Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter’s remark seemed to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English.”

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter VII. A Mad Tea-Party

As I’ve observed before, education isn’t a common topic here though I have been a teacher for more than sixteen years. The last time I wrote directly on the topic was almost two years ago. The post today will be somewhat related to one I have written previously. Before getting to it, I just thought I’d add that I have had an interesting (though not financially lucrative) career in education. Unlike many teachers, I’ve done almost every type of job there is to do at a school because I’ve worked at two small schools where everyone needs to put in a bit extra to keep things working. So I’ve not just focused on one area of teaching and have experience teaching toddlers, adults and all years in-between. I’ve also taught in multiple subject areas including ones I don’t really have the specialty to be teaching. As well as this, I’ve done all sorts of other jobs in schools including leadership, administration, disability support, IT, event management and even smaller jobs like fixing the photocopier and changing light bulbs. I think this experience gives me a somewhat unique understanding of how schools function.

And as I understand how they function, I can see that with competent staff, they work quite well without external bureaucracies, standards and other forms of outside interference. That is outside of the parents themselves which is the one group the education establishment around the world seems to believe should be mostly excluded. However, compliance with government standards in many areas is now a condition of running a school in Australia even if they could do without the tax dollars every Australian child is entitled to. One of these areas of compliance is Australia’s National Curriculum.

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We don’t deserve nice things.

Posted on March 26, 2023 by JC

There is a fairly well-known meme with the phrase “This is why we can’t have nice things.” which I have seen around frequently enough though I wasn’t previously familiar with its origins. It is usually posted with a picture of someone doing something really stupid or inappropriate. There is also another similar meme, “Remember what they took from you.” which is either accompanied by a photograph of happier times or more ironically accompanying something like images of cheaper petroleum or 1980s action figures. Both of these served as inspiration for this post. What follows applies across the Western world but will mainly be focused on Australia as it is my homeland.

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What am I doing wrong?

Posted on March 19, 2023 by JC

Money has been tight for the last few months and it has got me thinking again about how I manage my finances in general. The period between December and January are usually more expensive for me but this year it has gone on longer due to a variety of other expenses that have come up. Thankfully, I also received an unexpected pay rise but this too has been consumed with new expenses. More than management, I am wondering what I am still doing wrong? What unnecessary spending am I still doing? What could I be doing differently? You get the idea. Continue reading →

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Further thoughts on Brideshead Revisted

Posted on March 12, 2023 by JC

This is a follow-up to my previous post as I felt it was different enough to warrant its own. This will focus on the characters of Rex Mottram and Celia Ryder. I didn’t mention either at all by name in the previous post — though they are important characters. Rex was the fiancée and then husband (at least legally) of Charles’ ultimate paramour Julia Flyte. Lady Celia Ryder as can be guessed, was the wife of Charles.  Unlike the Flyte family, the operation of Divine Grace is not (at least visibly) working with these two characters.

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Thoughts on Brideshead Revisited

Posted on March 8, 2023 by JC

I mentioned a few years ago in a post that I had been intending to re-read Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited along with Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. After finishing the former late last week, I decided I needed to write something about it. Not least because I had wondered why it was so popular with Catholics given some of the subject matter. To be specific, I remember an acquaintance once wondering aloud why it was considered the “quintessential Catholic novel” — while clearly not agreeing with such a claim. As I wrote this, I thought I’d do a quick search through Catholic booklists online and it certainly does show up frequently. As I first read the novel before I was Catholic and have just re-read it having been one for almost six years; I think I am in a better position to address this.

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How do I get out of this?

Posted on February 26, 2023 by JC

Something that I noticed after converting to Catholicism is the zeal I suddenly felt to bring others into the Church with me. Especially my close family and friends. I had found something good and wanted to share it. This feeling is replicated on a far more trivial scale with other experiences and discoveries from new interesting restaurants, to books and hobbies. While these smaller examples don’t require much sacrifice for potential converts — changing, renewing or embracing religion certainly does. Indeed, it took a long time for me to remember the rough path I took and the many stumbles upon the way and yet, I was expecting others to skip along the same path just behind me which was more than a little unreasonable. This is not just me either as I’ve heard and witnessed the same from other converts and it has long been observed in Christian history as well as in other religions.

In the years since my conversion, I have seen those around me making progress and heard many positive stories as the world declines further and more visibly into evil. But I have realised that people will mostly come to the Faith the way I did and not through my or anyone else’s encouragement alone. 

Something I’ve been given cause to think about more recently is a barrier that often comes up when speaking to someone who is curious and open to the Faith but reluctant to make the great leap. Although not ever said in such terms, they are essentially asking, “How do I get out of this?”

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