Netflix’s Black Mirror has been critically acclaimed and widely praised, but also gets its share of fan hate? The new episode “Bandersnatch” gives us a great opportunity to re-examine the series’ cultural position.
Join me as I illustrate why Black Mirror isn’t just any TV anthology series. Along the way we revisit some classic genre anthology TV series from decades past, including the one that used to scare me silly as a kid!
Holy smokin’ clovers, it’s been so long since I wrote about music! Along the way for my pecking out music-related content for sites such as SongFacts.com, I’ve collected a little bin of wild new music genres that have either only come up in the past few years, or been around since sliced bread but only recently got a name.
Join me as I share my discoveries in new music genres, because you might as well load up that new gadget you got for Christmas with a playlist.
You judgemental, mean-spirited geeks pushed me and pushed me year in and year out. And I finally snapped. This is one of those nerd-rage rants that have been kicking around in my slush folder for years, and it’s finally found a home.
Leave The Star Wars Holiday Special Alone! If it’s that bad, it’s still no worse than the rest of Star Wars.
UPDATE Called it!
Seen the Netflix movie version of Death Note? Hated it for being Twilight but with a Ferris wheel scene for no reason? Forehead still numb from facepalming as you witnessed complete character flips that made no sense?
Nah, OK, maybe you didn’t do all that, but I’m here to explain why Death Note is a can of hairy worms for just about anybody to try to adapt into a movie, why the anime is the best we can get – potato chip scene be damned! – and why the original manga stands alone in a class by itself.
This is part of a series of blog posts I wrote for a coin collecting site circa ~2015 that seems to have disappeared off the Internet. Note any prices mentioned in this series are from 2015.
It was the very last circulated silver dollar ever produced by the US Mint. It’s not a particularly expensive series to acquire – the key dates do tend to be pricey, but the series is so much shorter, after all, and nothing like the complexity of Morgan dollars.
But it has an astounding story to tell.
Continue reading “Notable Collector’s Silver: The Peace Dollar”
This is part of a series of blog posts I wrote for a coin collecting site circa ~2015 that seems to have disappeared off the Internet. Note any prices mentioned in this series are from 2015.
Any serious collection eventually gets its own maintenance and upkeep hassles. You make an inventory system, it gets too cumbersome, you invest in software for it, you need binders and slabs and holders and boxes and labels… Eventually you want it insured, at which point you’ll want to know (if you hadn’t wondered already) what the whole collection is worth, in total.
Well, here’s some handy tips to better appraising your collection, via spotting the hidden values in some items which you may have overlooked. Because finding out that it’s worth more than you thought it was is like finding free money…
Continue reading “4 Proven Secrets to Finding Hidden Value in Your Collection”
This is part of a series of blog posts I wrote for a coin collecting site circa ~2015 that seems to have disappeared off the Internet. Note any prices mentioned in this series are from 2015.
The Royal Canadian Mint recently completed melting down over two hundred thousand gold coins, after selling what they would to collectors. The coins were $5 and $10 denominations unearthed in a vault at the Bank of Canada, which the Canadian government simply decided it was time to fire off.
This brings to mind the melting of United States gold coins, in particular the 1933 Gold Double Eagle – and why it’s a fascinating saga that still drags on today.
This is part of a series of blog posts I wrote for a coin collecting site circa ~2015 that seems to have disappeared off the Internet. Note any prices mentioned in this series are from 2015.
We like to think of US Mint personnel as intrepid perfectionists. These are people whose ties are tied with the same knot every day and who come to a full, complete stop at every stop sign, right? But the fact is, they’re human like anybody else. They make mistakes. there’s quality control measures in place of course, but the quality control people make mistakes.
Continue reading “Five US Mint Oversights You Probably Didn’t Know Exist”
I’ve copped a new squat over at 123ish.com, where you’ll find my new guide to building an EDH deck in Magic: The Gathering. It’s a fun little topic I’ve been meaning to jabber about anyway. I lay out a beginner’s template and explain the basics, and link to several time-tested resources.
Hope to see you all across the playmat from me!
This is part of a series of blog posts I wrote for a coin collecting site circa ~2015 that seems to have disappeared off the Internet. Note any prices mentioned in this series are from 2015.
Collectors of the Morgan dollar series might feel that their quest to complete the series is stacked against them. As opposed to other coin series, Morgan silver dollars are harder to come by than you would otherwise think, considering the mintages. The story of why they are so scarce forms a fascinating insight into history and economics.
Continue reading “Five Surprising Reasons Why Morgan Dollars Are Rare”
