Author Archives: Bob Evans

Thoughts of the first Presidential Debate

It is hardly a secret that I am not a supporter of the Mitt Romney or of the current incarnation of the national Republican Party. That said my impression from watching the debate Wednesday night was that Romney had a good night and that Obama had a fairly bad one.

Romney, in Federation Commander, terms executed a perfect High Energy Turn, placed himself on a course for the middle of the electorate and began erratic maneuvering, reducing Obama’s incoming fire to shield-scorching inconsequential attacks. 

I did note that Romney still avoided specifics like a vampire dodging the coming dawn, and he campaign is still one that seems reliant upon the idea that the economy is bad and therefore Obama should be tossed.  It remains to be seen if this will be a winning strategy. As In noted a few posts ago, the wind had been at Obama’s back and Romney at that time was still playing to the right side of the field. In a week I’m going to take another good long look at the number from several sources and see just how much this has moved things in the Republican favor. (I don’t doubt that there will be movement, the question in my mind is how much. Less than 2 points leave the race close but unchanged, 2-3 points will be good for Romney, but not commanding, above 3 will be ahistorical and possible very bad for Obama.)

Personally I thought Obama had more facts on his side, he detailed more policy, and was less manipulative of the truth than Romney, but he looked tired, distracted, and unwilling to engage and in a battle of perceptions he clearly lost.

 

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Movie Review: Dredd 3D

Way back in the mists of time, the 1980’s, there was a subversive British comic book called Judge Dredd. Set in an apocalyptic post-nuclear world of MegaCity 1, it was a boo about police states, crime, and judgement. Violent, satirical, and uncompromising it was a cult hit.

In 1995 a film veriosn was released upon the world – apparently we did pull off all five sacrifices properly that year – with Stallone as Judge Dredd, and aside from some of the art direction, nothing of the book survived into the horrid screenplay or onto the screen.

Now we have a second attempt at translating the world of MegaCity 1 to the big screen, an adaptation that doesn’t not rely on big names, or huge budget, but instead tries hewing closer to the intent of the original stories. Continue reading →

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We’re about to hit the home stretch

So September is coming to an end and election day is rapidly approaching. (When you consider early voting, election day is, for all practical purposes, already upon us.) There is little time left and from where I sit it looks like Obama has the wind at his back while Romney is still patching up and assuaging the relations with his base. This is not where you want to be in the final weeks ofUSpresidential campaign.

If I were forced to make a prediction today I would bet on Obama winning the election. This, of course, is hardly a done deal and a surprise or two could upset the race, but the odds of such events are dropping with each passing day. I doubt the Democratic arty will take the House, that is a tall hill to climb (Pun intended), but they hold the senate if the momentum continues growing for them. Certainly the republican Party thinks so, hence their cautious overtures to return to support Todd ‘Legitimate Rape’ Akin in his Senate bid, despite the toxic effect this has had on the women’s vote.

Oh my party in November is going to be interesting.

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Sunday Night Movie: The Black Hole

Technically this is a Saturday Afternoon/ later Saturday night movie, but it’s close enough for government work.

The Black was the Disney entry into the “Star Wars made more money than God, what space movie do we have’ race that exploded after 1977. Notable as the first rated Disney film that was no ‘G’, the Black hole is in many ways a classic example of later 70’s genre film making. Pretentious, filled with cluncky dialogue and for no reason what so ever, ESP powers have to be present. Continue reading →

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Mitt Romney’s Video Troubles

By now, if you have been following politics at all, you’ve heard about the secretly recorded video of Mitt Romney at a fund raiser in Florida where he said things that he doesn’t say in public. There are those who insist that this is the real Mitt Romney, but we can’t know that. He was at a fundraiser with wealthy republican donors, so this could be Mitt Romney saying what he thinks his audience wants to hear. He does that a lot, but without the skill that Bill Clinton, the master, had for such performances. Continue reading →

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Chicon 7 – Day 2

So day two of the convention started with the now typical backache, but on the plus side my sweetie-wife and I had a very pleasant breakfast with a person whom I had only known as an on line poster.

There is a forum for people writing and submitting to the Writers of the Future contest and quite a few of us were attending Chicon 7. I had hoped to breakfast with two of them, but we failed to make the connection with one and so it was just three of us at the breakfast buffet. Still, it was very nice to put a face and voice to the posts and we had a lovely conversation before the start of another busy day. Continue reading →

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Chicon 7 – Day 1

The next morning we discovered what would become the worst recurring aspect to this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, the beds at the Hyatt Regency. The hotel supplied the rooms with beds of extreme softness. Now there may be those who think that means a night’s rest is like sleeping on a cloud when on such a bed, but those are not the sentiments of my sweetie-wife and myself. Both of us suffered from back pains through the convention due to the bedding, my sweetie suffering more than myself. Continue reading →

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Chicon 7 T -1 day

So we left for Chicon on Wednesday August 29th, the day before the convention started. I used to fly to convention on the first day of a con, but after getting burned more than once and missing panels I really wanted to attend, I changed that up.

So, in order to get down to the airport for our 7 am flight, we had to be up at oh-dark-thirty. Luckily a friend was kind enough to drive me, my sweetie-wife, and another pal down to the airport saving us taxi fare.

Passing through TSA was relatively painless, as much as that process can be now days, and we waited for our flight, along with at least two other fans heading to Chicago. (Side note, the prohibition of small blades and knives on airplanes is really a pointless rule. No highjacker or set of highjackers are going to take an airliner that way again. As we have already seen passengers adapted to the new terrorism very quickly, tackling anyone they suspected of foul intentions, including their own pilots. The days of meekly sitting there while the plan is taken are over and they are not returning.)

The flight was pleasant and I watched Captain America: the First Avenger on my laptop to pass the time. We arrived on time at Midway airport and after a short taxi ride found ourselves at the Hyatt Regency hotel. Check in went quickly and before long we had our badges and were ready for the con to begin.

 

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Vacation is over

My week off from work has ended and now it is time to man the desk again. I had sucha  good time at ChiCon 7 that I can return to work in a snappy happy mood.

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I’ve Been Away

Howdy:

So for the last week I have been in Chicago attending the 70th World Science-Fiction Convention.

At many conventions I would have done nightly updates on the panels and my activities, but ChiCon 7 was far too busy for that. The panels were really good, and even on the first day I was in panels from noon until 10:15 at night. I am so glad we arrived the day before.

I got to meet a number of my fellow Writers of The Future contestants and they struck me as a talented and engaging group of writers. (What the hell was I doing there?) Honestly I had a great time and I will try to post a little more about it in the coming days. Unusual for me, I skipped out on the last day of the con to go to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Technology, because they had an actual WWII German U-boat there (number 505, captured by Americans) and that was worth seeing and touring.

I had a great time, saw old friends, made new ones, and I am jazzed about my writing again. All in all a success!

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