Artificial insomnia

I have just learned a very important lesson ladies and gentlemen. To insure a good night's sleep one must take several precautions. 

First, go to the bathroom. A full bladder is detrimental to peaceful rest. 

Second, have something to eat. Hunger pangs are not conductive to sleep.

And thirdly, and this is the most important... do NOT watch the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, especially around midnight. 

Yeah. Yeah, I made that mistake. So for all of those you who suspected I was above average intelligence, let this stand as a lesson to not overestimate some people. 

Sigh. I'll go to bed in a minute. Right after I check the garden. With my kamgee tomahawk. 

Good time for pulp movies!

Well now, this is a very pleasant surprise! I had feared that gritty movies with beasts and tough guys were a thing of the past, but I'm glad to be proven wrong. In the last few years we've had Jurassic World, Jungle Book, Tarzan, a slew of westerns, a new Predator movie and now a new King Kong movie. These cool things just keep coming!

I guess Hollywood finally figured out that awesome with good story sells. In this age of modern tech and distance from nature these survival action movies from the bygone era really seem to still strike a cord with folks. Jurassic World actually tried something new, had great action and had enough interesting ideas and concepts to give the audience food for thought. It also wasn't afraid to poke fun at itself, being self aware and not taking itself too seriously. Tarzan, which just came out and for the first time in years I found myself rebuffed from the theater due to every single seat in the theater being used, was a wonderful adaption of the original books. It borrowed enough to be recognizable to the fans but did enough that was new to be its own thing. It was fun, epic, and really captured the magic of the novels.

I'm especially interested in this new King Kong movie, since it is NOT a remake. From the trailer it appears to be taking place in the 60's or 70's, which I think is a good choice. For a moment I was terrified that it was taking place in contemporary history, which is always a good way to turn me off. Rather than trying to retell the same story this one appears to be trying to explore the history of Skull Island and King Kong, something I haven't seen done and which really captures my interest. If handled correctly, this could end up being a really worthy movie. It could still end up being garbage though. I haven't seen King Kong this huge and OP since King Kong vs Godzilla in the Showa Japanese movie. Then again, this is being directed by the same guy who made the latest Godzilla movie, so fair enough.

Still, I'm cautiously optimistic. The line "This planet doesn't belong to us. Ancient species owned this earth long before mankind." really strikes a cord in my primitive soul, evoking images of some ancient secret lurking in the depths of this movie. Please, please, please be good!
Oh, also, Loki is in here. Cool!

Check out the trailer and let me know what you think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAbI4w95cTE

Being a long time Predator fan, having sold my soul and dignity to acquire almost every comic, game and book on the franchise out there, hearing about another upcoming movie is most exciting. Funny enough, the Predator franchise has had a consistently good string of movies if you exclude the AvP stuff. Aliens sank itself right after the first sequel, but it seems as though that being an underdog has kept Predator from being shamelessly exploited. Although whoever names these movies needs to get fired. Follow me on this one.

First movie: Predator. Beautiful! Simple, effective, and no copyright issues.

Second movie: Predator 2. Sequel, simple title. Not too imaginative, but it works.

Third movie: Predators. Read closely. It is not the same as the first title. Look at that tiny s at the end. Oh! Plural form of Predator. Okay. If you're reading fast it's pretty easy to miss. I'm sure that won't cause aaaaaany confusion at all!

Fourth movie: The Predator. Wow, you guys are really breaking out the dictionary to make this title stand out, aren't you? Adding one whole new word! THE! This surely won't cause havoc when trying to research on Google. Ugh.

Okay, whining aside, from what I've read everyone seems to have a firm handle on what this should actually be. Shane Black, Hawkins from the first movie and one of the writers, stated that it's not the gadgets and action that will make this movie survive. It's putting them into a good story so that those gadgets and action actually mean something. They also know not to violate what is established in the previous films. They said why should they do a remake when they already have a deep and interesting setup to explore further?
Everything the producers say regarding this movie makes me want to jump and clap my hands in glee. It's like they actually understand the fundamentals of storytelling and want to make a good product!

While the rest of the world is falling apart around our ears, at least we have some good movies coming out to help curb the pain. Here's to good movies!

Once again I've been proven correct

Day in and day out I hear people screeing for gun control, how that's the only way to protect us from terrorists and criminals, when in reality they have no bloody clue what they are talking about. They tout theories and ideas in the face of real events flatly proving them wrong to the point that it's comical. France was once touted as an ideal which Americans should aspire to: Gun Free and safe! Except now terrorists are rampaging regularly there. There aren't any major gun vendors there. No Second Amendment. No outlets or firearm training grounds. And yet scum-of-the-Earth terrorists are still finding firearms to carry out their massacres.

I've also more than once said here and in person that even if terrorists were somehow denied the use of firearms they'd simply use something else. I've more than once mentioned that using a vehicle in a crowd would cause far more casualties than a firearm. Cars are incredibly powerful and much more difficult to stop. And wouldn't you know it? A terrorist used a car in a parade to run over more than 84 peaceful people in France whilst shooting out a window. Honestly, the firearm was irrelevant in this case. It's bloody hard to shoot one handed while driving. But the car itself was more effective here than even a bomb would have been.

With 84 people dead and many more wounded, this might inspire others to follow suit. Copycat terrorists will realize that a car has a lot more protection. It's a weapon and escape route all in one! Expect more crap like this in the near future.

Sometimes I really hate being right. I truly do. Because when I predict stuff like this it inevitably happens and I'm left shaking my head, wishing that I was wrong. But the writing is on the wall and apparently I'm one of the few people that can read.

Pray for the people of France. They will see MUCH more of this. And frankly, so will the rest of us.

Kickstarter: Warriors of the Wild Lands

Jim Cornelius of Frontier Partisans blog is one of the coolest guys out there. He's a walking talking tome of lore on frontiersmen of days long past. Name a country and it's likely he'll name a warrior who is from there. His blog is filled to the gills chronicling the exploits of brave men and women of the frontier going back centuries. You can lose yourself in the tales of men who seemed larger than life. His writing style is excellent.

And he has officially begun a Kickstarter for his self-published book Warriors of the Wild Lands! I am going to make a pledge myself very soon and I heavily encourage any of you reading to do the same. You can go to his Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/809441675/warriors-of-the-wildlands-frontier-partisans-book

Jim is a fantastic guy and very worthy of your time, attention and money. If by some quirk of fate you've found my blog before his, quit wasting time and head on over to his pronto! http://frontierpartisans.com/

Happy Rebellion Day!

After Christmas I think the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. A holiday celebrating the renouncing and rebellion against a tyranical government that demanded an obscene volume of taxes and lording over citizens who wanted nothing to do with them. Sound familiar?

But for now let us enjoy the best day of pyromania in the world with our environmentally un-friendly explosives polluting the sky for fun and dazzling flashes of fire that must make the birds go nuts. Explosions away!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Primal Frontier new book cover!

Okay, now I REALLY like this book cover. Check this thing out and try not to salivate.

Created by the infinitely talent Rodrigo Vega, I'm extremely pleased with the inking and faded parchment look. If this type of book cover doesn't get your interest then you have no soul, sorry.
Stay tuned for future updates for this story!

You can check out Vega's DA page here. Give him all the support you can get! http://rodrigo-vega.deviantart.com/

Next book: Primal Frontier: The Kapar's Mark

Okay, been pretty silent on book status as of late, but fret not adoring fans! All two of you! For I've been hard at work chiseling away at my next book which I'm confident will blow all prior ones out of the water. For one this will be my first full sized novel. Second, I have an amazing friend acting as an editor helping me. Said friend will help ferret out problems in my book with the same ruthlessness and tenacity as a Spanish Inquisitor. While I love the books I've written, there are so many problems in them that I wish I'd spotted before.

But fret not, for with this newfound help and my ever sharpening skill set this next book will be awesome.

For a synopsis, this time our intrepid hero Ansgar Tapio, the mighty hunter of dinosaurs on the Wild Continent, now undergoes a more personal journey to a mysterious island to hunt a kaprosuchus. This is an expedition story with lots of traveling, meeting primitive tribes, minor warfare and lots of brushes with deadly wildlife. So if you're a fan of H. Rider Haggard stories you'll probably like this one. I do try to keep the pace up though, so worry not if you dread exhausting passages just talking about going from Point A to B.

I'm also introducing some new characters to help liven things up. As a note for stories much further down the line, I will have some exclusively featuring other characters. For those of you who liked Zanji in my first book, Hunter from the Red Hills, she'll have some stories where it's just her kicking butt and exploring the world.

Anyway, back to this story, The Kapar's Mark, this island we're visiting is a cross between prehistoric North Africa and South America. Reptiles dominate this place and crocodiles are everywhere. Honestly, prehistoric crocs don't get the love they deserve. T-Rex always steals the spotlight, but not this time!

This story is still months out as the editing process will take a lot of time, but I'll get it churned out soon enough. In the meantime I'm also going to start working on the first entry of my upcoming steampunk! Keep tuned for details on that one.

Eccentric Cowboy out!