Come see JenEric Coffee and JenEric Authors at Geeking out for the Holidays.
This Sunday (November 30th) from 10am-4pm at the Nepean Sportsplex.
Éric
Éric has had an eclectic career which ranges from casino dealer to canal boat captain to radio station DJ. Since 2009, he’s worked as a desktop publisher for the federal government. During his off time, he works as a freelance typesetter for various Canadian-based authors and publishers, roasts gourmet flavoured coffee, runs several pen-and-paper role-playing games, writes, and helps run JenEric-Designs.ca (Home of the TravellingTARDIS.com).
He lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his author wife, daughter, and son.
Come see us at the Merivale Mall
Tomorrow JenEric Coffee, Crochet, and Authors will be at the Merivale Mall from 10-4.
Come by and see us!
The Sign of Faust Google Search
If you were to search The Sign of Faust in Google, this is what might show up…
Not really, but these are related to the book!
Odd Thomas – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2016 film Odd Thomas.
Story
The screenwriters took all the fatphobia, misogyny, and ableism and removed it. They also took the overall slow story and made it feel fast paced. Unfortunately, all the polishing doesn’t help a mediocre attempt at a supernatural thriller.
Score: 0.5
Characters
The characters are made more human in this than in the book and that’s probably because of the actors and the cleaning up of the relations between characters.
Special shout out to Anton Yelchin who turned one of the least likeable characters into someone I’d want to read and watch. Also Addison Timlin who made Stormy into more than a cookie cutter manic pixie dreamgirl.
They still feel like outdated cardboard cutouts instead of real characters.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue is pompous, dated, and awkward. In the books, it was terrible, but in the movie it worked to build a sort of stylistic surrealism to the whole movie.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The digital effects look dated but everything that’s practical looks great. The cinematography and weird blue filter makes for a good match to the dialogue’s surrealism.
The music was okay. It did its job but was extremely predictable and a little dull.
Score: 0.5
Fun
I liked the movie and might even rewatch it. I watched it alone after hate-binging the novel. I don’t think the kids or the family would have enjoyed it. As a supernatural movie it was good. As an adaptation, it was better than the novel.
Score: 0.5
Overall
An amazing adaptation of a mediocre book. Anton Yelchin and Addison Timlin infuse personality and emotion into bland, borderline unlikable characters. Unfortunately, no clever writing or acting can save a tired plotline.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5
Height of Civilization
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
There’s a meme going around about The Matrix, saying that the movie was right, that 1999 was the height of human civilization.
It’s easy to agree with. Finances, war, politics, the environment, and almost everything else feels like it’s gotten worse over that past quarter century.
This doom and gloom has been rampant on social media since around 2015 and in the past ten years we’ve sort of started to accept that everything is a dumpster fire.
As much as I agree that there are a lot of issues and in some ways it feels like we’re fighting for the last breaths of western democracy, a lot has improved too.
I was reading Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz recently, and was taken aback by the overwhelming amount of homophobia, fatphobia, transphobia, ableism, and misogyny. I can’t blame it all on the author either. In all forms of media from that time period, you are bombarded with the message to be different but in a way that is acceptable. As a closeted and fat neurodivergent kid at the time, it wasn’t a great world. The push toward conformity was a reaction to a world that was quickly changing technologically and socially.
If that level of judgment, hate, and fear is the pinnacle of human civilization… then I don’t want anything to do with it.
I have to believe that the current political climate is a temporary shift backwards. That love, tolerance, and humanity will win out in the end.
The answer isn’t idealizing the past, it’s improving the present. Even if it’s just in little ways, small kindnesses, and being able to be happy for others’ joy. Even when we can’t understand it.
Beyond that, we need to find the joy in ourselves, no matter how “cringe” it might feel. Love yourself, your neighbours, and your hobbies unabashedly.
Be kind and stay safe,
Éric
Motivation, Writing, and Creative Procrastination
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
Have you ever started a movie, and five minutes into it, you realize you’re really not in the mood? Now imagine if that movie was going to take you months to watch… That’s kind of how writing can be. I have more ideas than time and I should be done the fifth Elizabeth by now, but I’m stuck at chapter 4.
I don’t even have a good reason; I just can’t seem to motivate myself. I love the characters and I want to see what happens, but I’m having trouble writing without a deadline. Jen has spoiled me. When we write together, I feel the pressure of a deadline without the stress. It makes writing solo a lot harder.
A shiny new idea is always hard to resist.
In that vein, here is a short list of ideas I’ve had recently that I’m aching to work on:
The Pie Shop Murders
Short murder mysteries following Pieper the burnt-out web developer who takes over her recently deceased Grannie’s Pie shop. There will be murder, a grumpy slow-burn romance (at least 4 books), a ghost, and magical shenanigans.
Guardian of Chaos
Follow the adventures of Elizabeth Coderre at thirty+ as she comes to terms with being the Guardian of Chaos and what it means. With the power to travel the “back rooms” and a world that is still hostile to the magical community, she needs to not only discover her place in the universe but will need to save it too.
This would be a sequel series to the Baker City Mysteries
Public Service Zombies (PSZ)
Thomas, a father of 2, returns to work for the Federal Purse of Canada in January 2020. Being away from his kids is hard but the free coffee is nice. Until the government loses an election and suddenly there’s no free coffee. He’s missing the focus it gives him, but his coworkers are having a really hard time and they’re starting to freak out a little. When someone brings COVID into the office, the withdrawal mutates into a full on Zombie apocalypse. Then the zombies start showing supernatural abilities.
Paracosm
Agents Kitty Price and MacKenzie Fairfield of Elmsley are starting to think that their boss’s sudden retirement is fishy. Especially as the new head of Elmsley wants to bring it back to its glory days. They have to figure out how to bring back their boss and expose the corruption in Elmsley, all while trying to figure out why kids are disappearing into magical pocket worlds.
I’m hoping that Jen will write this with me since MacKenzie is her character and I think there’s place for a romance with the two leads.
This would be a direct sequel to Parasomnia.
“The University Book or Battle of the Bands”
A group of friends at Baker University move into a haunted house. The book would be split into “Episodes” like short stories that feature each of the main characters. Each story would have their own plot but would also be part of the overall story.
Jen and I have been talking about this book for way too long.
It will connect with characters from Baker City Mysteries and act as a sequel to both The Copper Tarnish and Faymous (Coming 2026)
There are more…. so many more.
This post has been brought to you by procrastination and executive dysfunction.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
The Copper Tarnish Google Search
If you were to search The Copper Tarnish in Google, this is what might show up…
Not really, but these are related to the book!
Elio – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Elio.
Story
This story has been told before from The Last Starfighter to Spirited Away the odd/special/trauma kid getting sucked into another world isn’t all that original. This is probably the first Pixar movie not to make me cry at some point. It’s cute and has a good message but it’s been done.
Score: 0
Characters
I was Elio at his age (without the dead parents) and I felt for him. He was well written and his arc was believable. I also really liked Glordon. The Communiverse felt like a lot of bumbling academics rather than diplomats.
My big problem was with the Grigon. I feel like they wasted time with him on gags instead of showing us his inner turmoil about his son. It would have made his turn at the end much more powerful if we’d seen into his head more.
I’m not even going to touch the ethics and horror at the whole concept of the clones.
I did appreciate the cameo of Kate Mulgrew and the archival audio of Carl Sagan.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue had a lot of sweet, funny, and silly moments. It was pretty good but felt very young. There was a lot of technology and ideas thrown out but no discussion about them beyond gags. Maybe after the critics said Lightyear was too advanced, they went way too simple on this one.
I did like the recurring gag of, “Goodbye. I love you.”
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The visuals were stunning, but felt like they were the point of the movie. Like everything was built on the visuals instead of the emotion or story.
The music was amazing. I particularly liked that the Hylurgian’s had battle chants. That made them more terrifying and likeable at the same time.
Score: 1
Fun
This was a fun movie. Lots of cringe but still a really nice movie. The kids loved it and the rest of the family liked it.
Definitely not a movie I’ll be wanting to rewatch.
Score: 0.5
Overall
This movie is cute and works as a young kid’s first sci-fi but it’s not original and doesn’t have the emotional depths I’ve come to expect from Pixar.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5
Dear Dragon and Pegasus – Toy Time Capsule
Dear Dragon and Pegasus,
On Saturday (the 8th of November) we opened a time capsule that I had made with your Gramma. We made it in 1996 which means we opened it 29 years after it was made.
I was really hoping for a letter from Gramma in there but it was cool to see all the toys.
If I’m being honest, I think it might have been her way of making me get rid of toys and then I went overboard.
You were both super excited to open it but meh about the toys. You found the trolls silly and each of you were excited for something different. Pegasus was really into the transforming dinosaurs and Dragon was excited for the doll whose hair grows and the harmonica. (Oh boy…)
It was a nice time. We had Grannie there and Uncle Dan on the computer since he was sick.
I think having the box was nicer than opening it. Almost like letting her go. I’ll never fully let her go but this part is over.
I think maybe we should make a time capsule with different things in it. Something we could open in 25 years, hopefully together. I’ll have to think about it.
Love you kids!
Papa
P.S. November 8th was her birthday. – Jen
I wish I’d known it was okay to feel
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I’ve spent a lot more time analyzing my emotions and obsessing about them.
When I’m sad, I spiral, and it often hits depression levels. I try to feel my way through it and give myself grace. It makes things better, to not blame myself and it’s taken a long time to get over the shame of it. (Nothing shameful about sadness despite what my brain says.)
As for anxiety, I didn’t treat it that way at all. I treated anxiety like an annoyance that needed to be ignored, shoved down, and hidden. I get really bad anxiety in social situations. I always feel out of place and like I’m not wanted. I know that’s not always the case but it’s hard to deal with. (Doesn’t help that I have a really hard time reading people and have a little face blindness.)
In places that have a lot of noise, people, bright lights, etc; I would focus on hiding my feelings and trying to survive without showing my discomfort. It was causing panic or anxiety attacks (I’m not sure which). That would aggravate my migraines and make everything worse.
My therapist explained that you can acknowledge your feelings without focussing on the negative effects. So instead of focussing on the feeling of dread and needing to escape, I give myself permission to feel uncomfortable. It’s okay to feel and to have anxiety. I’m not broken, I’m not alone, and I’m going to be alright.
That change in attitude and thought process was enough to make Can-Con immensely easier for me. It also let me accept that people were happy to see me and to let go of the fact that some people don’t. It was still overstimulating and exhausting but better.
Anyway, this is your reminder that it’s okay to feel. Your feelings aren’t wrong, exaggerated, or stupid. They just are and they aren’t always rational but you’re not alone.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric