Pearsonally Speaking

Author: Pearsonally

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Biography / Blog / Essays / Far-Right Politics / History / Politics / Science / Scumbags

Just HOW Fucking Stupid IS DJ Trump?

Why I Don’t Support Removal Politics || History ||  Science ||  Spelling Geography || Boss || The Fourth Estate || Making Shit Up [n.b.: this post will be modified over time || please check back soon for updates] The full title of this post should include “and incompetent”.  But for time.  And space.  And what sanity remains. Unlike most of my posts, I have not included item-by-item references, and instead give references to quotes and little else. Anything here is information readily available with a Google search. Hell, even Bing can verify anything I say here. Feel free, after reading this post,...

Skywalker When? 0

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Skywalker When?

Life at Amazon has been — hopefully understandably — crazy.  Check back after whenever for my review of The Rise of Skywalker. I’ve seen it twice so far, and might have something to say about it.  [ feigning Shock and awe ] 2001.14: Since I never did a review of The Last Jedi, my review of Rise will include a review of Last.  That is the only way, I figure, to explain why I am such a defender of Last, especially as compared to Rise.  Should be finished before May 1st.

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Blog / Diary Entry / Misc. Reviews

Loving LOVE

Recently I had the immense pleasure to attend a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show at The Mirage in Las Vegas called LOVE. It is a brilliant and bizarre 90 minute spectacle dedicated to the music and legacy of The Beatles. I am not a big fan of the circus. I’ve been to circuses, including one called something like the Royal Russian Circus maybe 25 years ago; with dancing bears, elephants walking trunk to tail, clowns so hideous they would make Pennywise shiver from their creepiness, and trapeze artists flying with the greatest of ease over outstretched nets. That is...

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Blog / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / Science / SciFi

The Bad Physics of Ad Astra

a review of Ad Astra MULTIPLE SPOILERS AHEAD, IF YOU CARE TO SEE A TRUE STINKER When Brad Pitt’s newest sci-fi flick was forthcoming, it looked chock full of promise: an intriguing plot, Tommy Lee Jones as the long lost father, beautiful photography and special effects, and the trailers didn’t give away too much of the story, just enough to keep it interesting. In it’s attempt to be a legacy film, Ad Astra takes/steals/borrows straight plot points and even imitates shots from legendary entries in the sci-fi cinema corpus, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Gravity and others.  That’s not...

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Biography / Blog / Essays / History / Science

Humboldt at 250

Recently I have been re-reading one of the first true old-school scientists I read in my youth.  The writings of Alexander von Humboldt were pointed out to me during my first year of HS, as the then-topical scientist Carl Sagan had released his book Cosmos and the PBS 13-part documentary series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”. Luckily, the librarian engaged me about my interests, and with science and the writings of Carl Sagan being top on my mind, she pointed me to a dusty book also called Kosmos, but written with even more depth than Sagan’s accessible prose, though extreme in detail. ...

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Blog / Diary Entry

Diary Entry 1908.15

Yeah, I haven’t been blogging as much as of late, but I do want to inform my (few) dear readers of the upcoming issue # 7 of my sci-fi/fantasy/horror fanzine, “Microzine”. During — and for a bit past — high school, I, along mainly with my bud Kevin Colbeck, then later Ray Heikes and Charles Oliver, put together a fanzine, originally titled “Encyclozine“.  You, should you so desire, can read all about it here: https://pearsonally.com/microzine Well, I am finally getting around to doing another issue, and this time I look forward to utilizing modern technology to make it a reality.  And...

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Blog / Essays / Far-Right Politics / Politics / Scumbags

Trump’s Messaging to American Racists

On Sunday, July 14, 2019, the person with the highest position in the world stooped to one of the lowest positions in the world: telling his opposition in Congress to [paraphrasing] ‘go back to their countries’. This hate-filled trope has been a common racist call – originally leveled at the Irish, Jewish, Italian and even African-descended immigrants – for over a century. Members of my family used to use it in regards to the Mexican-descended family across the street, despite being model citizens and neighbors and being entirely born here in the US. The same call was leveled against Muslims (even...

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Blog / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / Science / SciFi

China Takes to the Skies

a review of The Wandering Earth NO SPOILERS AHEAD Recently, Netflix released the Chinese blockbuster sci-fi epic The Wandering Earth (May 6, ’19). Having made over $700 million worldwide, the film made good bank on what has been called “China’s first full-scale interstellar spectacular”.1 As you would expect, it is a mixed bag, with moderate highs and usually unintentional lows. Science-wise the file is problematic, but epic in scale, heroic in scope. One of the main problems is when the Earth — which is Wandering (duh) — is approaching Jupiter.  There is a sudden, unexpected burst of gravity from Jupiter, called...

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Blog / Essays / History / Science

Pop Population

Of the Census years I have been alive, America’s population has certainly grown, but it has also shifted.  In 1970 there were 6 American cities with a population of more than 1 million.  They include the typical big 3 we would always think of: NYC, Chicago and LA, in that order.  At that time the list also included Philadelphia, my birth town of Detroit, and Houston, which had just hit the million-resident mark with that Census. In 1980 that number stayed the same with NYC, Chicago and Philadelphia losing a combined 1,445,504 residents.  The listing places for the 4 top cities...

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Blog / Horror / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / SciFi

US and Peele

a review of Us NO SPOILERS Us (2019) is the 2nd major film from 5 season “Mad TV” comedic actor Jordan Peele.   After the maddening demise of that beloved variety show, he collaborated with (Detroit’s own) Keegan-Michael Key on the Comedy Central sketch series “Key & Peele” (2012-15).  His breakout “black horror film” Get Out (2017) is only the 2nd horror film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Wow. He could rest on his laurels, but that just wouldn’t be the route of a talented and maybe even brilliant filmmaker in the tradition of his heroes, including Rod Serling, Alfred...