I just received some very nice news — Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine in the United Kingdom will publish my ghost story poem, “This Windy Morning,” in its February 2018 issue. The issue will be released soon, and I believe that it again will be available in both softcover and PDF format.
“This Windy Morning” was first published by Poetry Pacific in November 2017. I’ll post links when it appears over at Peeking Cat.
I hope that you all are enjoying this sunny but blustery winter weekend.
“Year One.”
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that 2018 brings health and happiness to you and all who you love.
Regarding the song — the various interpretations of its lyrics make for some pretty interesting reading. They range from an allegory to the Book of Revelations to the story of a man contemplating suicide after the death of his lover. My own favorite is that it is a description of Russia’s Eastern Front during World War II, told from the point of view of a soldier in the Red Army. (As strange as that sounds, it appears remarkably well supported in the song’s lyrics. Google it.) I’ve read that the boy on its cover is actually a Russian guerrilla in a Soviet propaganda film.
I found this message on Facebook this afternoon, and then verified it over at Snopes.com. I shared it, and am posting it here as well:
[The Affordable Care Act (ACA / Obamacare) enrollment period was shortened and the Trump administration has cut funding to advertise these deadlines by 90%. The website for enrolling will be taken off-line every weekend, thus preventing weekend enrollment. This is a tactic to decrease enrollment. BE SURE TO ENROLL ON WEEKDAYS! Enrollment for 2018 ACA / Obamacare starts November 1 and ends December 15 … This isn’t intended to spam, we have to do grassroots promotion to keep enrollment up because Trump is trying to get ACA to crumble due to low enrollment numbers.]
Help spread the word, folks, please.
Or at least it is to the astronauts who make an abortive attempt to escort it back to Earth. (They realize that bringing a Martian organism home is a bad idea in this year’s surprisingly satisfying science fiction-thriller.)
I actually had more fun with this than I expected; the movie is much faster paced and scarier than the trailer made it look. There are some real surprises and moments of genuine horror here, following a requisite plot setup that is relatively brief. It’s a really nice monster movie that should please fans of the genre.
I actually didn’t prefer its ending, which is something for which other reviewers are praising it a lot. I’m disinclined to say more, for fear of spoilers. The movie’s marketing already spoiled enough. (The ads infuriatingly show the fate of a main character.)
I will say what the movie is not, however.
One, it’s not a stealth prequel for Sony’s planned 2018 “Spider-Man” spinoff, “Venom” (though that’s such a clever idea, I wish I’d thought of it).
Two, it’s not a ripoff of Ridley Scott’s “Alien” (1979). Yes, it’s got the same MacGuffin, and some story parallels that I noticed early on. But I like to think of this as a more grounded contemporary thriller, where “Alien” was a futuristic fantasy creature feature. Besides, if we criticize every “haunted-house-in-space” movie as an “Alien” imitator, we won’t get more of them.
I’d give this an 8 out of 10, and I’d recommend it.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 