When my father passed away (I think it was in 2007), there were only 13 people in attendance at his funeral. His four children and nine invited friends, a paltry amount of people considering all those he met and befriended in one way or another over seven decades. Memories of him being just Dad, or “Pop”, as we often called him, linger in my mind and can’t recall him being a poor parent or experiencing many hard times because of him. We had what I would call a “busy” relationship, in that as almost everyone was busy being a kid and got busy growing up while our parents both worked. There were good times and not so good times, but I can’t recall everything I’d like to at the moment, which is quite unfortunate, as I recall certain things, but pure memory tends to be quite an unreliable narrator if solely relied upon.
I recall hearing of his death from a relative who was “caring” for him and how disgustingly clinical the explanation was. I’ll admit my brain has since (more or less) blanked out almost every memory I had other that the time he took me to work (he was once a motorman for the MTA) and showed me how a subway train worked. Then, he let me take the train he was driving into the final stop on its route for about 25 feet or so (detailed here). Anyway, flash forward to now, that annoying relative has made a return at the very worst of times for everyone and I’m just not a happy camper as of this writing (to say the least). NO, I’m not planning anything drastic or dramatic at all. My life needs a lot less stress these days, period.
I do kind of need to borrow one of these, however:
OK, we’re still here, smoky acrid skies and all. (coughs. Thanks, Canada!) Some thoughts on the current scribbly situation along with other randomly generated ramblings:
Yes, we’ll continue to blog, albeit at a less than rapid clip than I’d prefer. The effect of pair of strokes I had a few years back have jumped up to remind me the writing process can be extremely daunting, especially when speed and quality are the issues. I have to constantly check my work, go back and edit, then reread everything before hitting that publish button or else you’d all be asking for an English translation into English or begging for me to start posting in Semaphore or Braille. Yes this takes a while to do and I hate it, but trying to rebuild a skill set is supposed to be a constant battle (at least in terms of the writer acquiring an honest, original “voice” in which to write in). Or something like that. Learning should always challenge.
That 10-yard stare makes for a common sight.
I’m also planning to reestablish connections with certain PR firms that I’ve previously dealt with (Hi there (again!) in order to receive (or get back to receiving) products to review. For a while, I was strictly purchasing products I reviewed or meant to review. But that’s gotten to be fairly expensive over the years, as I believe the “best” way to properly evaluate something is to actually pay for it while also pointing out its positive and negative aspects in a fair, unbiased (or biased in some cases) manner. “Biased”, of course, in that I’m a fan of some entertainment genres that don’t get the proper respect by too many very well-paid, freebie-loving “influencers” and “journalists” these days and I’d love to do my small part in helping raise a more positive impression of these genres. Tall order, especially in this giveaway friendly age. But it’s something I like to do as much as I can, while I still can. Granted, the current landscape is rife with those aforementioned (and extremely wealthy in many cases) types who expound on all sorts on products via a current format where some are paid to review and/or gift stuff from assorted sponsors, easily raking in hundreds to millions of fans who often rely on opinions of always raised voices and shock-tainted performances a more than actual facts. Personally, I’ve never been paid to review anything (although, a PR firm sent me a $50 Gamestop card after I’d posted a favorable review, which, by the way, had NO effect in my impressions). No one has ever told me they’d pay directly for a positive review, However, I have been asked a few times how much I’d charge to review something, or asked to review particular products primarily for some sort of payout and long term gain as other products to arrive later, but still haven’t taken that more lucrative bait.
SO Predictable (for me, at least!)
Of course, this makes me the absolutely dumbest person alive on a few fronts. But one has to have principles and mine are simple to a fault. Laugh if you must- I’ll wait. (Cue 1960’s era laugh track).
That said, I keep reading that ALL games/media writers are somewhat corrupt or in on the payola game and they all can be bought with games, movies and other free media. I suppose I’m making a point and a difference here, But someone has to reign it in at some point as it’s just making proper critical evaluation quite the dying art these days. Call me crazy, but some of the old ways and days need to make a return, purely for sanity’s sake. But that’s just me. I guess.
I’m SO glad I’m not eternally glued to YouTube (or wherever pit of people with too much time on their hands hang out) and I really don’t care where this latest “Hey, everybody lookit me make a fool of myself!” craze came from. Harlem Shake? I got a Harlem Shake right here for you… OK, call me cranky (and I’m pleased to meet you), but I actually used to LIVE in Harlem and the only folks I saw shakin’ were the crack addicts and winos when I was on the way to the subway and back from work every day. Yeah, I said it! And it’s actually true. Well, that was the 1990’s for ya, kids… the stories I could tell! Get the heck off the table (you dancing fool) and into your jammies and I’ll put you to sleep with a short one…
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"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 