Film Series
[13 Countries, 13 Films – 3 Mar thru 21 Mar]
For Sama, The Message, This Is Not a Burial It Is a Resurrection, Cave of the Yellow Dog, Neptune Frost, Osama, You Will Die at Twenty, The Heiresses, Capernaum, Apples, The Harder They Come, Cairo Station
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen, edited by Ellen Datlow
Another year means another Ellen Datlow Best Horror of the Year. As with all of these, it’s a mixed bag. I loved some stories; others were fine, and even some I forgot as soon as I was done reading them. Here are the stories that were highlights for me.
Set in the winter holiday season, this story follows two homeless men in Germany who encounter the Schnabelpercten. These diminutive creatives are said to go home to home during the Epiphany and inspect homes to ensure they are clean. In this story, if they are unhappy with the house’s tidiness, they murder the inhabitants inside. This is a genuinely creepy and very wintery tale.
Continue reading “Book Update – January/February 2025”
It’s the end of another week, which means I’m sharing more links.
The week concluded on a sad note with the passing of Gene Hackman. I hold this actor very close to my heart as one of my earliest film memories is watching Richard Donner’s Superman. I don’t think anyone has played a better Luthor. He’s necessarily comics accurate, but he was a balance of funny and genuinely evil. IndieWire pays tribute to the late actor, and I have plans for a mini-series of some of Hackman’s best work planned for this summer.
Continue reading “Weekly Links – 28 Feb 2025”
Quick Fate Check: Does Cypress hear about the destruction of Slumbering Bay before departing Kingshold? Result: 20, Cypress receives a report from Lugal Apogee that explains the destruction of his homeland in great detail.
The Capybarian shuts himself up in his room at the Ash Tree Inn. Hulde and Demis keep vigil in the tavern, letting their ally have a day to shut himself off from the world. Even Apogee gives Cypress space, sending a messenger to hand orders over to Hulde.
Continue reading “Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Everspark Part Seven”
It’s a Brady Corbet double feature starting with a young girl who makes a deal with the Devil after a school shooting. She becomes a pop star whose life never seems to settle. Then, a Holocaust survivor comes to America where his architectural skills clash with the local tastes.
Continue reading “PopCult Podcast – Vox Lux/The Brutalist”
It’s another Weekly Links with things related to media, but also just important things to share. One of those is that all of us need to be getting off the Google teet if at all possible. That’s hard for me because I’ve been on Gmail since 2005. Here is an article sharing some AI-free, encrypted alternatives to Google Docs which I will be trying out to see if they work for me.
Continue reading “Weekly Links – 21 Feb 2025”
(I realized I had forgotten about the overarching Spark of Qazid Icebreath’s journey across the sea. So, I went back and made Spark checks for each failure in the previous session. I closed the Spark, meaning Qazid emerges from the waters and decimates Cypress’s hometown of Slumbering Bay.)
The waters beyond Slumbering Bay churned, turning from sapphire to an ice-rimed gray. Then, with a sound like glaciers colliding, Qazid Icebreath rose from the depths. The beast’s massive form, a mountain of jagged frost and barnacle-crusted scales, shed seawater in torrents as it emerged. Its icy mist breath rolled over the docks, freezing fishing boats in place and coating the wooden piers in ice sheets.
Continue reading “Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Everspark Part Six”
The plight of refugees at the Polish/Belarusian border is spotlighted. Then we spend time with a British woman stuck in her anxiety.
Continue reading “PopCult Podcast – Green Border/Hard Truths”
Happy Valentine’s Day and welcome to my Weekly Links. This is a new type of post I’m trying out to share links to articles I come across that are related to pop culture & examine it from interesting perspectives. Hoping you find a good read here.
Continue reading “Weekly Links – 14 Feb 2025”
Read the previous chapter here
I think this is a good point in the story where my Spark of Qazid Icebreath’s Journey kicks in, which I have written up below.
N – Qazid Icebreath’s Journey
A – Make a Fate Check, advancing on unfavorable results or with failed Skill Checks.
C – Only from the second ray forward.
H – Jump to a scene of Qazid wreaking havoc on Slumbering Bay on his way to the Whispering Mountains
O – Qazid is intercepted by the Imperial Navy and appears to sink to the bottom of the sea
S – None
Qazid Icebreath’s Journey – 0/5
Fate Check roll: Has Qazid been spotted recently? The higher, the closer he is. Rolled 19.
Yes, and he has obliterated a trio of naval ships in the area.
Qazid Icebreath’s Journey – 1/5
PopCult Reviews 