Author: Ryan

Podcast Series Review – Within the Wires Season One

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Within the Wires is a podcast production by Night Vale Presents, written by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson. It features the voice work of Janina Matthewson and music by Mary Epworth. Set in a world with an alternate history from our own, each episode is presented as a cassette tape recording — divided by Side A and Side B — that plays instructions for visualization and relaxation exercises. These are dictated by a woman with a soothing voice coupled with ambient music. The intended listener of these tapes is a nameless medical inmate kept in a place referred to only as “The Institute.”Read More »

Mighty Thursday #19

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The Incredible Hercules: Love and War

By Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente (Writers), Clayton Henry & Salva Espin (Artists), et al; Marvel Comics; 2009

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Summary

Marvel’s Amazons don’t merely attack. They rip, rend, smash, bash, eliminate, annihilate and just plain violate any man, woman, or god that dares get in their way. Led by Princess Artume, daughter of the Amazon queen Hippolyta, these Amazons aren’t gonna wimp out when it’s their turn in the ring — or in the boudoir!

Amazons are unleashed as Hercules and sidekick Amadeus Cho find themselves unwittingly wound up in Artume’s insidious plot, one that eventually draws in plenty of other Marvel heroes and gods from the pantheon! Love and War is a story full of action and unbridled humor, with Herc just the way you like — no, love — him. Charming, dumb, and getting away with it!Read More »

Book Review – How To Be A Canadian by Will Ferguson & Ian Ferguson

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Summary from Goodreads

Being Canadian can be a chore, says Will Ferguson, but it can be a lot of fun, too. For this follow-up to his runaway bestseller Why I Hate Canadians, Ferguson, a Canuck himself, recruited his brother Ian to create this ultimate guide to the country’s cultural quirks, from diet and sex to sports and politics. The result is a nonstop comic ride through such topics as “Canadian Cuisine—and How to Avoid It,” “Regional Harmony (Who to Hate and Why),” and “How to Make Love Like a Canadian.”

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How To Be A Canadian by brothers Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson is a humorous guide to adapting to Canadian culture. Unlike its predecessor, this book is much more tongue-in-cheek, the humour taking centre stage. Why I Hate Canadians was very funny, but it collected essays and anecdotes that used humour to explore and critique aspects of Canadian society. This book is a lighter approach, lampooning different facets of Canadiana, from language to leisure activities. Sometimes these vary depending where in Canada they cover, while others are shown as more inherent to the Canadian identity.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #18

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Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

By Jeph Loeb (Writer), Ed McGuinness (Penciler), Dexter Vines (Inker), Dave Stewart (Colourist), & Richard Starkings (Letterer); DC Comics; 2005

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Summary

A tale of loyalty and unlikely friendship featuring two of the most famous super-heroes on the planet, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies pairs the Man of Steel with the Dark Knight. The iconic heroes unite when President Lex Luthor accuses Superman of terrible crimes against humanity and assembles a top-secret team of powerhouse heroes to bring Superman in. But the “World’s Finest” duo are determined to topple the corrupt president’s reign once and for all!Read More »

Movie Review – Arrival

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Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is a 2016 science fiction film based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang. The film stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. Twelve extraterrestrial spacecraft appear in seemingly random places across the globe. Louise Banks (Adams), a linguist, is asked by US Army Colonel Weber (Whitaker) to join a team at the site of a craft’s landing in the middle of rural Montana to determine what it is these alien beings want. Accompanied by theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Renner), Louise makes contact with two of the beings on their ship and begins the arduous task of deciphering their written language.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #17

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Aliens: Salvation

By Dave Gibbons (Writer), Mike Mignola (Artist), Kevin Nowlan (Inker), Matt Hollingsworth (Colourist), & Clem Robins (Letterer); Dark Horse Comics; 2015

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Summary

When the God-fearing Selkirk is forced by his insane captain to abandon the space freighter Nova Maru, he finds himself marooned on an inhospitable and remote world. Faced with starvation and madness, Selkirk believes that his salvation lies in the Maru’s planet-fallen payload, but uncovering the cargo could unleash hell itself…Read More »

Book Review – Wenjack by Joseph Boyden

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Though a rather small, unassuming book that took me a short amount of time to read, Wenjack by Joseph Boyden conveyed a story that will stay with me forever. Its brevity is swallowed by its poignancy, carrying with it a great weight in contrast to its size. This weight comes from the tragic history of displacement, death, abuse, and what Boyden calls “an attempted cultural genocide” suffered by the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people of Canada. This was suffered at the hands of the Canadian Indian residential school system, which from the 1870s to 1996 had more than 150,000 Indigenous children over seven generations removed from their families with the intention of assimilating them into the dominant Canadian culture.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #16

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Secret Avengers by Rick Remender Volume 3

By Rick Remender (Writer), Andy Kuhn, Matteo Scalera (Artists), Matthew Wilson (Colour Artist), Chris Eliopoulos (Letterer); 2013

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Summary

As Father launches his invasion, a terrible new Avengers foe is born: beware the bite of the Black Ant! Can the Marvel Universe survive the plague of contagious robotic evolution, merging the Descendants with all humanity? And how do you stop a plague that has already begun to spread? Torch, Venom, and Valkyrie infiltrate the rebel robot base — but are Lord UltraVision and Monarch Machine Man friend or foe? And when Torch must choose between mankind and the perfect future Father will create for all automatons, which will he pick? As Black Ant and Hawkeye face off in the ultimate showdown, the Master Mold rises over New York — and the only way to stop it is to kill the Torch!Read More »

Book Review – When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

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When You Are Engulfed in Flames is the sixth book by David Sedaris originally published in 2008. I was drawn to read more of his work after reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk earlier this year. While there were many others to choose from, this cover depicting a Van Gogh painting of a skeleton smoking a cigarette and the eye-catching title made this book hard to resist. It collects anecdotal essays about a range of situations: a talkative cab driver turning the conversation far too sexual, the experience of buying your partner a human skeleton, and spending a week with a miserable and slothful babysitter.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #15

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Secret Avengers by Rick Remender Volume Two

By Rick Remender (Writer), Renato Guedes, Matteo Scalera (Artists), Matthew Wilson with Bettie Breitweiser, Jeremy Mohler (Colours), Chris Eliopoulos & VC’s Clayton Cowles (Letterers); 2013

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Summary

Thor leads a secret team of Avengers on a suicide mission to stop the Phoenix by any means necessary!

Who is Minister Marvel, and why has he drawn the Phoenix to the Kree homeworld? The Avengers devise a way to save the Kree, but one man stands in their way: the original Captain Marvel, reborn to unite his people! Can Ms. Marvel and the Protector break free of Minister Marvel’s influence to aid their former companions? Plus: Can Hawkeye and Black Widow unmask the spy on their team in time to prevent tragedy? And as Hawkeye, Venom, and Ant-Man face the Masters of Evil — an army of villains unlike any ever seen before — to save Max Fury, the Shadow Council’s true goal is revealed! Enter the power of the Abyss!Read More »