All posts by Eric Robert Nolan

Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations. Eric’s poetry has been featured by Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere. His poetry will also be published by Illumen Magazine in its Spring 2014 issue.

Twerp Alert!

The Tinycats all have their eyes wide open, and are learning to use their legs.  They will doubtlessly be a handful for MamaCat and the rest of us quite soon.

Note how Little Ninja appears to be roaring. He heard someone say he was the runt of the litter, and is now working to disprove that.

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July 23 as “Batman Day?” Hmmm.

Wouldn’t a day in late autumn or early winter have more of the right feel? Weren’t his parents killed during the colder weather? (His mother is wearing a fur stole, isn’t she?)

And Frank Miller’s “Year One” — including Bruce Wayne’s “Yes, Father” epiphany — occurs in winter, right?

At least we got a “Batman Day.”  If those weirdos can have a “Star Wars Day,” then I’m pretty sure I should have demanded a “Batman Day.”

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I dreamed last night that I was a guest on “Oprah.”

My book had been selected for “Oprah’s Book Club.”

It was awkward.  She kept saying the the novel’s “Loretta Chambers” and “The Atlantic Coast News Hour” were thinly veiled (and somehow adulatory) references to her and her program.

I kept trying to figure out how to delicately and quickly explain that they were not.

 

A quick review of “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014)

I really liked it!  It had a fun, cool depiction of ape culture, and a surprisingly awesome villain in the form of Koba.  The great CGI and some terrific voice acting made both Koba and extremely likable Caesar seem real.

The action and special effects delivered; this was a nice little darker action flick with a science fiction premise.  Koba and the sometimes unsettling battle scenes made this something that would also please horror movie fans as well.   The scene where Koba tricks the two men at target practice?  Yeesh.  Look at that sneer.

We’ve got three cardboard good guys that make up a pretty boring de facto nuclear family.  For a better example of how to script post-apocalyptic characters, the screenwriters ought to see “28 Days Later” and “The Walking Dead.”  Jason Clarke’s Malcom was sooo nice and intuitively understanding, I kept hoping that one of the apes would knock him upside the head to slap some character depth into him.  The far more interesting characters were Koba, Caesar, and Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus.

Question — does Kirk Acevedo play a shmuck in everything that he’s in?  I am reaching for an “Oz vs. Apes” joke right now, but cannot seem to find it.

Question — I am no techie, but would human survivors really need hydroelectricity just to power a long-range radio?  Couldn’t something like that be powered by a generator or some other power source?

Anyway, this was a fun, darker sci-fi movie — I’d happily recommend it.

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I will never tire of this Girl Scout joke. NEVER.

 

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Zero by J. S. Collyer – A Review

Zero by J. S. Collyer – A Review.

“The action sequences are very well written, and don’t read like blocking or choreographing, as is sometimes the case with some writers. This is science fiction, but isn’t bogged down with pseudo-scientific jargon or strange, inaccessible concepts that only appeal to sci-fi enthusiasts. This is simply a good story — part mystery, part adventure, filled with great characters and enough twists to keep it unpredictable and interesting.”

Nice review, J.S.!!  🙂

Alan Sickler’s “The Twenty Year Reset” (A 4-LAN review)

Head on over to “What I Am Reading” to accompany 4-LAN the friendly Bookbot on a dark journey to a dystopian future.  Alan Sickler’s “The Twenty Year Reset” sounds damned interesting!

http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profiles/blogs/what-i-am-reading-17

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“EVERYTHING’S EVENTUAL.”

Tinycat update.

ALL the twerps have opened their eyes except for Little Ninja! (Perhaps he is The Blind Swordsman?)

I picked one up (Mamacat is totally chill with me doing that), but the little twerp got scared and started meeeeeeowing really loud, so I put him right back down again. I guess my Beastmaster powers only go so far.