Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Crown of Horns (Bone #9) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 



[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SRBMZN           (This is an Amazon associate's link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Sunday, June 15, 2025

Carnivàle: TV Series Review


Links to stuff mentioned:
* Carnivàle vs. The "Kill 'em Young" Manifesto by Whisky Prajer: https://whiskyprajer.blogspot.com/2012/02/carnivale-vs-kill-em-young-manifesto.html

This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:

This is also part of my Television Addiction series.  For my explanation of what the Television Addiction series is and why I'm doing it, see: https://youtu.be/T5CEQ9-35xA and http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2021/04/television-addiction-article-on.html

Carnivale

          I watched this because Whisky Prajer strongly recommended it to me after my last post confessing all the TV shows I’ve wasted my life on.
            I’ve got mixed feelings about this show.
            On the one hand, the general idea is really cool.
            In my review of The Butterfly in Amber, I said that it was a cool idea to mix historical fiction with fantasy, because I think most of us already have this unconscious feeling anyway—the feeling that there must have been something mysterious and magical going on in the times before we were born. 
            And, at least in terms of just creating an atmosphere, Carnivale does a great job of mixing in a magical fantasy element with the real events of the 1930s.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the opening credits:


           Furthermore, I think it was an interesting idea to try and re-imagine the life of Father Coughlin (W) and the pro-fascist forces as part of a wider spiritual battle between good and evil.

            But the pacing of this show just killed me.
            I can handle a mystery getting teased out for an episode or two before it’s resolution, but when a mystery is just endlessly teased out and never resolved, then I start to get impatient.  And when the writers seem intent on adding just more mysteries and questions while appearing to forget about the ones they’ve already introduced, then I just get frustrated.
            This may just be a personality preference.  I like nice neat logical stories where everything ties up neatly at the end.  Furthermore, if I’m forced to choose between the two, I generally prefer story to atmosphere.  People who have different personalities than mine will probably enjoy Carnivale more than I did.
            For Whisky’s take on Carnivale—SEE HERE.
            Another interesting link is this article: Carnivale Broke My Heart.  (Link via Whisky.)


Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

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Saturday, June 14, 2025

Treasure Hunters (Bone #8) by Jeff Smith: Book Review



[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dZPzXL           (This is an Amazon associate's link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Friday, June 13, 2025

Ghost Circles (Bone #7) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4jRO6E9           (This is an Amazon associate's link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Thursday, June 12, 2025

Old Man's Cave (Bone #6) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/43IgiVt            (This is an Amazon associate's link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025

So, I got this in my inbox this afternoon:



 It was not completely unexpected.  I had known that I didn't have the 3 qualifying purchases, and that my time was running out to get them.  And in fact, I had anticipated this might happen even back in February, as I wrote at the time.

Just in case anyone is curious, for the record it looks like I only got 1 qualifying purchase during my 180 days.  And it actually wasn't even something I had linked to, it was for a piano accessory.  I'm guessing someone must have followed one of my links over to Amazon, and then stayed browsing on Amazon.  Even though they bought something else, it apparently still counted as one of my qualifying purchases.  So thank you, whoever that was.  Because I never got the other two qualifying purchases, I never qualified for the comission, but had I qualified, I would have gotten 43 cents off of that purchase.  Which is, of course, a reminder of just how little money one can expect to make off of a blog, even under the best of circumstances.

In spite of all of this, however, I've decided to go ahead and re-apply and try again.  Because it never hurts to keep trying, because every little bit (potentially) helps, and because, as I wrote back in February, I like the idea of giving my readers a link to Amazon regardlesss--it makes it easy for them to check out whatever it is I'm talking about.

The good news is that it's very easy to just reapply for the Amazon Associate's program.
The bad news is that all of my old Amazon Associate's links are no longer valid.  So if you click on a link from an old blog post, that no longer counts.
At the moment, I've decided I'm not going to bother updating my old links--that's just too big of a project.  So, I've changed the label on all those posts from Contains Amazon Associates Link to Contains Now Defunct Amazon Associates Link.  And I will be deleting the old links in my Amazon Associate's Links index and starting over.

For the record (just for posterity's sake), all of the old defunct links are listed down below.  These links should all "work" in the sense that they will take you to the appropriate product page, but I no longer get a comission off of them.  I present them below just for historical interest.

Books

Comic Books

DVDs

Amazon Prime

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Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (Bone #5) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman
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Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Starting: Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model (3rd Edition) by Jana J. Echevarria, MaryEllen J. Vogt, Deborah J. Short

Check out this book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/43Uvj5r                   (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Starting: Complete Spanish Step-By-Step by Barbara Bregstein [Premium Second Edition]

Check out this book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3HBPM7B                   (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Revolutions Podcast--The Appendices: Mini-review

As part of my run through of all of Revolutions Podcast, I have now just finished the appendices section.  

Incidentally, it's a bit unclear as to how to even refer to this section.  itunes classifies the appendices as "Season 11" of the show, and I've seen some other websites also refer to the appendices as "Season 11".  Certainly the appendices are long enough to be a whole season on their own--there are 12 appendix episodes, making it longer than the seasons on the July Revolution or the Paris Commune.  But other websites, like Wikipedia, list the fictional Martian Revolution as Season 11.  So I guess it depends who you ask.  But Mike Duncan himself is referring to the Martian Revolution as Season 11, so I guess that's authorative.  

The Appendices originally came out in the fall of 2022.  They are 12 episodes which seek to put an analytical framework on the 10 revolutions that Mike Duncan had covered: What are the commonalities among the 10 revolutions covered?  What have we learned about revolutions over the course of the series? Etc.
I was aware of these when they came out, but I opted not to listen to them at the time.  I'm more of a narrative history guy,  and so when these more analytical episodes started coming out, I figured I'd wait to listen to them.  
It wasn't that I was totally disinterested in them, but at the time I was more concerned with catching up on the backlog of episodes.  (I was still listening to The French Revolution at the time.)  And I knew I'd catch up with the appendices once I did my run through of the whole series.

Well, here are.
The Appendices are very well done.  Mike Duncan has put a lot of thought into them, and he's come up with some very detailed, and also very insightful, analysis on the nature of revolutions.
Now, I much prefer narratives myself, but that's just me.  If I was a more intelligent person, maybe I would enjoy the analytical stuff more.
Actually even as it was, I didn't hate these analytical episodes.  As I did some mindless chores, the episodes stimulated my brain, and gave me that pleasant feeling that you get when you are learning something interesting.  In other words, they tickled my brain a little.  They got me thinking about a few things.
But at the same time, I don't feel the need to listen to them 3 times through, like I did for the other seasons.  Once was enough.

Now, before I finally finish this podcast,  I'm off to listen to the Martian Revolution.  I have a feeling that once will be enough for the Martian Revolution as well.
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