Computer graphics can be gorgeous but I’ve never seen it used for an effect like this. This short film–less than half an hour–is gorgeous and spooky and the only adaptation of this classic you need.
I should warn you that there are brief moments of flashing lights.
2020-12-24 20:08:39 +0000 UTC View PostI’ve tried to cut back on my Twitter time so I have an actual life, but I’ve also been neglecting my own spaces. So here goes. As you can guess from what’s below, these have been building up for a while now.
Let’s keep working backwards through the shows I’ve binged during the pandemic:
SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWER
Confession time: I knew nothing about She-Ra before watching this show. The original show came out when I was too old (and too young) for cartoons and all I knew was that The Usual Creeps were upset by the new character design because this version of She-Ra didn’t have big boobs.
Nothing about the show tempted me, either. It looked like sword & p...
2020-09-30 18:21:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Fiery!
If I had any brains, I would have posted this much earlier, and started sending the announcement newsletter at midnight last night. Unfortunately, today is Blursday, and yesterday was Blursday, too, so I lost track of the date.
Note to self: write rent check.
So, yes, the audiobook for Circle of Enemies is available today, f...
2020-09-29 18:38:05 +0000 UTC View PostContinuing my Binge-demic posts, let me move backwards to the show I watched before Veronica Mars.
STRANGE LUCK
It’s weird that this show has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Not that it’s bad. It’s not. You could even call it pretty good. Still, a hundred percent? If I had to guess, it’s a distortion created by the fact that the show predates the site, but a number like that promises more than Strange Luck can deliver.
Simply put: It’s the 90’s, and every...
2020-09-26 23:28:36 +0000 UTC View PostContinuing my Binge-demic posts, let me move backwards to the show I watched before Korra.
BURN NOTICE
There was every reason for this show to be a forgettable one-and-done gunfight and bikini action series. It was on the USA network, it’s set in Miami, fills scene transitions with shots of beautiful young girls in swimsuits walking near water, and follows all the Action TV Show Gunfight Rules. ...
2020-09-21 22:24:55 +0000 UTC View PostHere’s my COVID lifestyle: I wake at 9am, then stumble out of bed for coffee and breakfast. With any luck, this involves some sort of sandwich. I’m a big fan of sandwiches.
Then it’s chores and writing. I’m currently revising The Iron Gate, and if I hit my daily goal, I reward myself with a little writing on something else, like bluebooking for a tabletop rpg or brainstorming The Flood Circle which is the next Twenty Palaces novel. Then, a little reading.
After dinner, my ...
2020-09-15 00:20:08 +0000 UTC View PostRest in peace, Chadwick Boseman.
It took the passing of movie star Chadwick Boseman at the young age of 43 to make me realize that I needed to cut way back on Twitter.
See, I wanted to write something on this blog about Boseman’s passing, about the work he’d done while he was sick, knowing that his life might be cut short. About the impact he’d had and the joy he’d spread. That I admired the legacy he left behind and feel awful that he’s been cheated of the time he could...
2020-08-31 23:53:40 +0000 UTC View PostThere's not much to say here, but it absolutely needs to be said.
Today, there's a new audiobook in the Twenty Palaces series: Game of Cages.
This is the first time the book will have appeared in audio form. Child of Fire was picked up years ago, but not the sequels. So, if you're an audiobook fan who already has book one, this is your first opportunity to turn the series into a set.
Let’s make this short and sweet, so I can go back to revising The Iron Gate:
Today, the audiobook for Child of Fire is available.
Not just on Amazon, but also on 2020-07-21 21:27:25 +0000 UTC View Post
How about we start off the day with Portuguese jazz?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTHuNASQACs
And, to make this a Sunday worth remembering, David Bowie compared to sea slugs and other underwater invertebrates.
2020-05-11 15:30:08 +0000 UTC View PostDumb but catchy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LBnMRWeV-E
To increase general happiness, I offer this: Artist draws modern movie superheroes in the style of pin-up art. Funny and good.
2020-05-08 17:10:25 +0000 UTC View PostLet’s return to the Avalanches for one of the most persistent (but enjoyable) earworms of the pandemic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjfspM5sDIA
And we jump from that upbeat song with the dark video to a site that’s straight dark. Grim London is one of the resources recommended in the tabletop rpg Liminal (As I type this, I’m ...
2020-05-06 17:01:43 +0000 UTC View PostFor today's upbeat tune, I give you this:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WhPvJOnHotE
There's an odd story behind this video, according to my son. The song is from 1978. The video is much more recent, and was created for a completely different song. This YouTuber stripped out the original son, put in this goofy old disco tune, and got way more views than the original.
Silly and fun. I...
2020-05-02 19:29:29 +0000 UTC View PostOn May 19th, this will be available:
Yep, the folks at Tantor Media have signed on to make audiobooks of some of my work, starting with this one.
Then, in June through September, they’ll be releasing the four core Twenty Palaces novels:
June: Twenty Palaces
July: Child of Fire
August: Game of Cages
September: Circle of Enemies
2020-04-27 15:24:35 +0000 UTC
View Post
This video hit YouTube last October, but it looks like it was designed for self-quarantine. It’s:
a group of friends
having fun
in the beautiful outdoors
with drinks
recipe included
Plus, the song is upbeat and a lot of fun. Perfect for today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASrS7GrhBH0
As for today’s pleasant distraction, if you’re a photographer (or ...
2020-04-24 17:37:32 +0000 UTC View PostHave some laid back tunes inspired by Thai Funk. I’m not sure about the guitarist’s wig, but the tunes are great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWLJeqLPfSU
If you’re looking for a soothing Youtube channel to watch, I recommend 李子柒 Liziqi. I have no idea how that’s supposed to be pronounced (or what the Asian writing means), but I’ve been calling it “Liz Icky” for about a...
2020-04-14 23:46:51 +0000 UTC View PostThere are lyrics here, but I can’t make heads nor tails of them. Still soothing, though, and the title fits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ist5OQ9CA4w
For today, we have a special treat:
https://sketchybunnies.tumblr.com/
2020-04-12 21:59:56 +0000 UTC View PostAgain, no music video this time, because I’m posting Cirque du Soleil, and those guys are pretty much all music video.
First, from April 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=allVFq3P-48
Second, from April 10, which is today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL0TG_nCqzE
I’m scheduling t...
2020-04-11 01:37:44 +0000 UTC View PostNot sure why I get so much pleasure from music with samples, esp audio clips from movies, but I do. I really do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u4Md_aXVJE
Over the weekend, we finally got the chance to play the second half of our Escape from Dino Island PbtA game. As an emulation of Jurassic Park, it’s pr...
2020-04-08 20:24:30 +0000 UTC View PostFirst, your musical interlude, which is Leon Redbone’s cover of Seduced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bOjrl9Qxzg
RIP, dude.
It’s been longer than I planned since my previous QP post, mainly because I sat down for another binge watch of Stranger Things. I’d been joking about it on social media, but I find the show soothing and I have a prescription for watching endless hours of TV to...
2020-04-06 16:54:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Cirque du Soleil has dropped an hour-long special on YouTube. It is pure delight.
No music video today, because this is a music video, sort of.
2020-03-31 17:33:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Siri, show me a dream hallucination with a mellow beat behind it.
If you’re a casual(ish) fan of Star Trek, you might enjoy this Filmjoy dive into the history of the original series, plus a second part about the show’s revival at the movies. I’m not really a fan at all (although I’ve watched most of what falls under the ST umbrella) and I thought these were interesting and fun. This is about the same length as their three-part Harry Potter film study, and I’m sure I’ll...
2020-03-30 21:18:08 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Mindy Klasky has been writing Coronavirus Diversion posts, highlighting interesting stuff on the internet for people stuck at home who need a pleasant diversion. I think that’s a brilliant idea, and I recommend everyone go ahead and click that link above to check out what she’s sharing.
I don’t want to copy what she’s doing, but I thought I’...
2020-03-27 19:15:18 +0000 UTC View PostLots of folks are self-quarantining at the moment, and there’s a lot of tension and anxiety out there. My family feels it the same as anyone else.
There’s not much I can do about that, and I don’t have much to offer folks to make this difficult time easier. However, I can do this:
Until the end of March, you can use coupon code
HX57G
to get a free Smashwords ebook of A Key,...
2020-03-19 17:12:15 +0000 UTC View Post
First, courtesy of Greg Van Eekhout, author extraordinaire, the perfect nine-second YouTube video for our times.
Second, if you’re one those good people who backed my Kickstarter for new Twenty Palaces novels, you’ve already seen the update with this news, but: Tantor Media has signed on to create audiobooks for all the Twenty Palaces books I’ve self-published. That’s Twenty Palaces, The Twisted Pa...
2020-03-09 17:22:09 +0000 UTC View Post1. Remember the old days when a person would simply turn to their blog and record a bunch of thoughts, instead of giving them away to a profit-free social media company like Twitter? Man, those were the days.
2. I’ve reached a tricky part of The Iron Gate. That’s not a bad thing (the exact opposite, in fact) but this is a part of the narrative where I’m going to be second-guessing myself and jumping around, trying to iron out a decent sequence of events so that thin...
2020-02-04 20:47:26 +0000 UTC View PostOne Man has been on sale for nearly two months, and while sales have not been life-changing, they’ve been holding fairly steady. And that’s mainly because of the reviews.
The reviews so far have been very positive, with a number of people saying One Man was the best fantasy they read all year. To which I have to say:
Wow, thank you.
I spent two years on this book. I’m not what you’d call prolific, and I thought it might be wise to stop t...
2020-01-21 21:16:54 +0000 UTC View PostI scheduled this to post over the weekend while I was working, but forgot to copy and paste here. Sorry about that.
Spoilers for Star Wars and of Veronica Mars. FYI.
Before we get into the meat of this post, I want to point out that, four years ago, I made this awful prediction:
— ask me about my new novel (@byharryconnolly) ... 2020-01-20 22:27:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Beautiful and haunting. I love it.
2019-12-18 19:26:25 +0000 UTC View Post