Author Archives: Bob Evans

Mini-Review 2: Forks Over Knives

Those who know me know that I am a meat eater. I love a good steak, well cooked chicken, or moist tasty chops, so to find myself watching a film about the advantages of a vegetarian diet was quite surprising.220px-Forks_Over_Knives_movie_poster

The premise of the film is that the Western diet, heavy in animal material, is bad in terms of health outcomes for people, leading to diabetes, heart disease, and cancers, and that a diet based on plants yields better outcomes. To support the premise the filmmakers utilized a number of lines of evidence.Primarily two medical doctors who have been researching this line of thought for years, the doctor’s patient’s as case studies, and large population studies, particularly in the east as diet there has changed from  one based on traditional meals heavy in plants to one more like the west and heavy in meats, and dairy.

Continue reading →

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Mini-Review Number 1: Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted

These reviews are not in the order I watched them in, but in just whatever random order they occur to me in terms of what I want to talk about.

This documentary was the least satisfying of all those that I completed. (I will not review any based on a partial viewing, that is not fair to the filmmakers or anyone reading the review.) Media MalpracticeThe premise of the film is that the media, because of a liberal bias, failed to due their due diligence in vetting Obama as a presidential candidate,facilitating his election and damaging the republic. Perhaps this argument could be strongly made, but John  Ziegler is not the filmmaker to do it.

This documentary is composed of two major elements. The first element is John Ziegler showing clips from the media coverage of the 2008 presidential election, and narrates in voice over his interpretation of what the clips mean. He doesn’t support the arguments with facts, or testimony, but simply keeps pouring on more and more clips with more and more of his views in what the clips show about the people who made them. There are times when he seems fairly on target and other times when it strikes me as Oz in Buffy would say ‘a radical reintrupretation of the text.’ Without supporting evidence it’s John stating his opinion over and over. Very unpersuasive. Continue reading →

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My poor neglected blog

Life has been so topsy turvy of late that I have failed to do any updates to my personal blog. So here’s a quick update of what’s been happening in my life.

Feb 2, Superbowl Sunday, I took a solo trip to Universal Studios Hollywood.This was a blast. Because it was Superbowl sunday the freeways were clear and attendance at the park was light. I never waited very long for shows or rides and I had a wonderful time. I bought a year long pass and  plan two or three more trip during the next twelve months. Hopefully a few with friends.

Feb 3rd was the beginning of the crisis period. I woke with extremely bad stomach cramps and called in sick to work. But mid-morning I knew I was in serious trouble and through my wife arranged to see a doctor. (At this time I feared food poisoning.) The cramps did not go away and I was unable to eat. The doctor’s officer grew concerned and on Weds ordered me to an emergency room as they had been unable to get a diagnostic test approved. (see there are ALWAYS bureaucrats between you and your doctors, they just aren’t always government ones.)

I was scanned at the E.R. and admitted straight into the hospital for surgery the next day to remove my Gall Bladder; the third organ now removed from my original factory specs. (First being tonsils and second being my appendix.) Because I apparently had a nasty infection with the gallstones,  I was on IV antibiotics for a day and half and spent both weds night and thursday night in the hospital. I was released Friday morning with holes in my torso, pain pills prescribed, and an order for a week of rest.

I’ve been watching a LOT of documentaries on Netflix, and Amazon Prime — god damn this is so much better than cable TV — and trying to daily cut down my use of pain meds. The dosage I am prescribed is 1-2 pills every four to six hours, what I have been maintaining is 1 pill every 4-5 hours and today I tried to go without, but I wasn’t ready for that.

Soon I’ll start posting mini reviews of the Documentaries I have been watching.

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Dangerous Musings

First off let me state that I am not a Christian nor am I by far an expert in Christian Theology. I know what I heaver learned I Sunday School, and a lifetime of fascination with humanity and its religion in general. However, snark aside, I don’t see where my reasoning if wrong.
In God’s glorious and perfection heaven, this is no evil and nothing can be wrong. For those who are saved, and therefore absolved of their earthly sins, heaven is a timeless infinity in the presence of your loved one, provided that they were also saved, and God’s eternal, merciful, and loving spirit,
Love is God’s greatest gift, and it is not only expected but required that we love one another, but the love of spouse is an elevated love, it is a love created by the special bonds that ties you to another person for life. It is expressed by a commitment to that person, and that person alone, forsaking all others. In the traditional Christian view, marriage is a lifetime vow, broken only by death.
Death does however break it, and those who have tragically lost their spouse are not excluded from the matrimonial love, but are allowed to marry again, recommitting their vows ‘until death do them part.’ The dangers of childbirth, no greatly reduced by modern medicine and clean hands, robbed many a family of their mother and many a man of his wife, creating the need for the second wife, the step-mother.
In heaven you are reunited with your loved who preceded you into God’s graces. That means you must be reunited with your previous spouses, whom you did love unto death, and you will be joined by the spouses you left behind when you passed away. In heaven many will live forever in perfect harmonious polyamarous relationships. What is good in heaven cannot be evil on earth. Evil and wrongness have no place in God’s grace, therefore poly relationships built upon love and respect can only mirror God’s will for the afterlife of the just and cannot be considered immoral , unnatural, or sinful, but only a proper expression of his divine plan on earth as it is in heaven.
For the record I am not poly either, but the logic still seems watertight to me.

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This is different

I watched Apollo 17 lift off in the night, taking our brave men on the final American trip to the moon. I know that we went, but lots of people like to believe that it was all faked. Here’s an excellent take down of that stupid stupid idea, from a perspective I had not seen before. It’s about 15 minutes, but worth it.

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A busy busy week

The day job has been a real job all week long. Yesterday started out slow, and I even began composing an essay on the latest rewatch in my James Bond adventure (The Man With the Golden Gun,) but a sudden power failure, stole the piece and I have ventured to recreate it yet.

I have finished the first draft of my latest novel ‘Command and Control,” and I have even finished the revision pass, but I discovered that there were scenes needed that I had neglected to write. So I’m doing what they call in Hollywood, pick-ups. Writing those scenes, smoothing them out, and editing them into the piece so the story will flow properly. I expect to have that done by the middle of next week and then I’ll turn it over to my sweetiw-wife for her proofread pass. After that, Beta readers!

I had a really rough day today. Lots of work at the day job. People making the work harder than it needed to me. The bleeding air conditioning came on and by afternoon I was freezing with my toes colder that Captain America down for a nap. Luckiyl things turned for the better when I got home.

I sold a short story to an electronic online magazine, Encounters. My story, Proof of Principle, if all goes well, will appear in the next issue due out Feb 1. It was only a token payment, but as I really loved this story I am so very happy to share it with a real readership.

 

thats all for now.

 

 

 

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Mass Murder and Our Culture

There is no doubt that America suffers a high rate of spree killings than other nations.  A lot of attention is given to the number and availability of firearms in this country because of this, but I believe that this is looking at symptoms and not causes. After all Switzerland has lots of firearms and doesn’t have the problem. The problem and the causes are far deeper than the tools used to create the effect.

The primary cause in my opinion is that we are a culture that venerates the concept of righteous revenge.  Revenge is often the motivation of both our heroes and our villains. Continue reading →

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Welcome to 2013 goodbye to 2012

Today was my first day job day back at the desk and so I can safely say that the new year has begun. Strangely New Year’s Day didn’t feel all that different to me yesterday. I stayed at home and relaxed, my sweetie-wife did some shopping and we played a couple of games. (Star Trek The Original Series: the Deck Building Game & Dominion, but fun games.)

I look back at 2012 and see that I achieved all my writing goals. Stories submitted to at least three pro-level publications, entered all four quarters of Writers of The Future, and completed the first draft of my latest novel. (That one was down to the wire with a Dec 28th final session.) Once the novel was completed in its first draft I relaxed and planned on no more writing for about a month.

My plan is to read the novels I have purchased, but have laid around on my Nook unread. In fact I have read two books already, Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress it is craft book on writing and it is very good. Also I finished reading last night, Zombie Movies  by Glenn Kay and encyclopedia of zombie movies from the 1930’s through about 2004. For novels I am currently reading The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross, and after that I have Snuff by Terry Pratchett, A Summer of Night by Dan Simmons and Quantum Coin by E.C. Myers.

Somewhere in the middle of all that I will start writing again about Feb, working on my next entry for the Writers of the Future, and then start revising Command & Control.After all that? Well, write another book.

 

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