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.
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
This week has been tough but I managed to accomplish a lot and still took some time to rest. Heck, I even finished the book I’ve been reading.
Anyway, it’s late, so have some cute Dragon and Pegasus cuddling.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2018 film Venom.
I was surprised at how predictable the movie was. It felt like an older 2000’s or even 1990’s superhero movie. Overall, it was less than I expected but I did appreciate the humour and transparent stand-in for a few real life billionaires.
Score: 0.5
The actors were significantly too good for these roles as written and it made them look bad. The script was ham and the actors played into it; some in a good way and others not so much.
Score: 0.5
The banter between Venom and Eddie is a lot of fun, but the majority of the plot dialogue is boring and trite. The love story was disinteresting and even the considerable skills of Michelle Williams didn’t save her from being a cliché.
Score: 0.5
The visuals were okay but not amazing. The fight scenes, especially the bike chase, were impressive.
The music was okay and did was it was supposed to do, but wasn’t memorable.
Score: 0.5
I watched this one on my own and I think that was for the best. The kids wouldn’t have liked it and my wife would have gotten annoyed.
It was entertaining, but not enough to make me not want to look at my phone.
Score: 0.5
It’s a semi-competent superhero origin story. It spent too much of its runtime on a derivative plot when it should have concentrated on the Odd-Couple style shenanigans of Venom and Eddie.
Final Score: 2.5 stars out of 5
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
As a follow-up to my post about Long Covid, I want to add a few things.
There are multiple other things that are also affecting me and I realize I might have sounded a little dour. I’m okay and I’m taking steps to make things better for me.
I’m trying to do things that let me rest and don’t hurt me more. It’s hard, because sometimes giving my kids Sunday eggos with strawberries instead of pancakes feels like failure, sometimes writing a post and then reading a little feels like laziness, and sometimes taking a warm shower instead of practising music feels self-indulgent.
I’m going to try and give myself some slack. As I mentioned in my post about burnout, it’s really hard to fight the guilt of doing something for me. I’m going to try and hopefully it’ll get easier.
What am I doing you ask?
All joking aside, I’m working on that. I’ll figure it out. I have a wonderful wife and family to help.
Well, I should go read. I have a book to finish.
Be kind and stay safe,
Éric
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
I swear I’ll get back to writing about writing and how cute my kids are soon.
Two years ago, my family and I went to Disney World. Baby Pegasus, at 7 months, got sick. He had a moderate fever and we were leaving that day.
As I was playing with him, he sneezed into my mouth. Parenting is sooo glamorous.
We did what we thought was best and took him home as fast as I we could. At the airport, we gave him crushed up tylenol and hoped for the best.
I started feeling off on the plane. By the time we got home, I had chills, aches, and a fever too. We visited the clinic and the doctor said that both of our lungs were clear and to keep an eye out for trouble breathing. She said, “Even if it’s the new virus, we don’t have the testing to check.”
Jen and Dragon had mild fevers, but nothing else.
The next few days were a blur of pain and half sleep. I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t have the kids snuggle me without pain in my chest. Everything hurt like I’d sprained it. Nothing I’ve ever experienced compared to the amount of constant pain. (Keep in mind that I once needed to have my throat lanced from a blister caused by strep throat.)
I was so weak that I couldn’t make coffee. That sounds like a joke, but I have a point. When I recovered enough to try and restart my normal routine, I started making myself coffee. I didn’t like the taste. It was warm and mildly sweet, but there was nothing else there. I tried to make it stronger and couldn’t tell.
In retrospect, I should have come to the conclusion that I’d caught COVID, but things were stressful and I was going back to work after my parental leave. I assumed I just needed to get my taste for it back. I also remember at that time, that I only really enjoyed salty or spicy food because it was all I could taste.
Over the past two years I’ve noticed a few things about myself:
I thought it was the baby not sleeping, the stress of a worldwide pandemic, or returning to work.
Looking back through I see that some of those things have been getting better. I can now taste coffee although it does taste different. Even though it smells the same, it feels like weird Berenstain Bears Effect. The fatigue is getting better. I used to be able to do one thing a day and I’d be wiped. Showering would destroy all my energy and now it’s back to making me feel better.
I still have a lot of the other issues, the fatigue combined with insomnia is hardest to deal with. It makes me hate going to sleep. I also wake up in all kinds of pain.
So… I guess I have long COVID, and according to my doctor, there’s nothing I can do about it. Thankfully I work from home and have an amazing family.
My big worry is if it affected the kids. How the hell do you tell if it affected a 3yo or 7mo? They’ve changed so much that there’s no real way to tell. It seems like they’re fine and I really hope they don’t suffer any long-term effects.
Hopefully, with full vaccination and some common sense we can avoid this happening to them because I’m telling you, it sucks. I feel like I’ve aged twenty years.
When someone tells you, “It’s just a cold” or “We should just get it over with,” they’re wrong. Get vaccinated, wash your hands, wear a mask, and don’t get it if you can avoid it.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
This was my favourite film of 2018.
I’m not sure there is a better done origin story for a superhero. The combination of dark themes with the lighter elements are perfectly balanced. The audience always has just enough time to process what’s going on before they’re treated to another action or drama point.
Score: 1
Miles’s narrative arc is a perfect hero’s call to arms and we get to see him grow so much from the beginning to the end. He’s also both brilliant and artistic which is a nice combination.
The rest of the cast are extremely well developed in a short time.
Fisk’s story is both heartbreaking and terrifying at the same time; making you feel for the villain while hating his methods.
Score: 1
Everything from the internal monologues, to the character’s backstories, to the interactions between people feels real while still being honed to perfect quippiness.
Score: 1
The animation style wasn’t new, but the way they used it was groundbreaking. It’s a way of making 3D animated movies into a more paper/comic look. The ink-dot style that mimics old comics was wonderful.
The music was great. The score was obviously inspired by previous Spider-man movies, but with a fresh spin. The song choices were masterfully done and integrated with the animation.
Score: 1
The themes were complex, but the plot was fairly easy for my kids to follow. The reveal of who the Prowler is had my five year old gasping in surprise and my two year old just loved seeing all the Spider-people.
Score: 1
By far my favourite Spider-man movie and possibly my favourite superhero film of all time. The movie weaves a near perfect coming-of-age story and hero’s journey, while being funny and heartwarming at the same time.
If you haven’t seen this, you should.
Final Score: 5* stars out of 5
*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.
Hi World,
I saw this video and it made me think about the people we surround ourselves with.
My mother, now gone 14 years, always told me that no matter how innocent I was, I’d be judged by the friends I have. I think she was worried about me getting involved with a gang or something. As the poor kid in a town with no minorities I was the most likely to become the scapegoat.
I’ve tried to make sure I was friends with good people and to avoid situations where I would be associated with bigots, racists, etc.
I miss my mom, but with her health for her last decade, I am sort of relieved she didn’t have to live through Covid. I’m also happy that she hasn’t seen the people her family and friends have associated themselves with.
I’ve given the Freedom Convoy more attention than I should, but it’s directly affecting many of my friends and my city.
Antihate canada is a non-profit organization that studies hate groups and they have some interesting things to say about the organizers of the convoy: Tamara Lich, Benjamin “BJ” Dichter, and Ben King. THE ‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ IS NOTHING BUT A VEHICLE FOR THE FAR RIGHT
The movement is also supported by several American celebrities and prominent anti-vaxx advocates and hate mongers. The Citizen wrote an article about this support: ‘The Canadian revolution’: How foreign anti-mandate sympathizers are framing the trucker convoy.
Now I can hear all the deniers saying how they don’t trust the MSM… so how about straight from the source:
There have been reports of fires, looting, blocking emergency vehicles, and many other reprehensible things.
I’ve seen a lot of people sharing an image that says, “Proud Member of a Small Fringe Minority with Unacceptable Views.” Do they share the views of the organizers? Or how about the supporters?
It’s sad to see so many people who are willing to disregard the founding and actions of this protest just because they dislike the prime minister or agree with one or two parts of the protests ideas.
At this point I only see two ends to this; violence or the protesters going home unhappy.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
Currently there’s a large caravan of truckers going to protest on Parliament Hill. This vocal minority (I mean that. The trucker’s union and the vast majority of truckers don’t agree with them) is also associated with with some scary right wing activists, some of whom are calling for violence.
They are protesting because they believe it’s their right to not be vaccinated and not follow public health recommendations. Basically they are anti-vaxx, anti-mask, and anti-passport.
They are calling this a Freedom Protest.
I want my freedom back.
The freedom to go grocery shopping without worrying that some asshat will spread a deadly virus.
The freedom to send my child to school with proper health measures, ventilation, and knowing that their classmates will be protected by medical science.
The freedom to not worry about my friends and family who are already sick getting something that could kill them.
The freedom to not worry about getting hurt and not being seen at the hospital because the medical community is understaffed, underpaid, overworked, and swamped by chucklefucks who refuse a completely safe vaccine.
The freedom to fly and travel without being needlessly exposed to diseases.
I am so fucking tired of explaining that it’s not normal that we’ve lost THOUSANDS of people to this virus, that the vaccine is safe, and that the effects of long covid are devastating.
I am tired of explaining to entitled, whiny, and selfish people that we live in a society and it’s all our responsibilities to take care of each other. Those that can’t be vaccinated or who could die from this disease because they are already sick are NOT expendable.
There is hope. For every loud-mouthed schnook there are hundreds or thousands of reasonable people. It may seem that as a society are are more and more polarized, but it’s mostly the small minority of angry loudmouths who are “full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Eternals.
The epic scale and complexity of characters wasn’t well served in the format of a movie. I think it would have worked better as a miniseries. I think some of the characters didn’t get enough screen time to show their motivations and evolution. That being said, I really enjoyed the non-linear aspects combined with the fascinating weaving into history.
Score: 0.5
There wasn’t enough time for all the characters and because of that, they seemed underdeveloped. They were very well acted and directed.
I think you were supposed to sympathise with all of them, but there were three that I didn’t like even before the twist. Maybe that’s a sign of a complex character.
Score: 0.5
The humour was extremely well-placed to balance the epic drama that was unfolding and even the info-dumps were very well placed.
Score: 1
Even with our state of the art 4K television, there were a lot of very dark scenes. It ruined the beautiful scenery and shots by forcing us to squint for no reason.
Beyond that, the cinematography was absolutely amazing and the amount of background detail is completely worth a rewatch.
The music was suitably epic and felt coherent with the MCU.
Score: 0.5
I’m surprised that the kids sat through the entire movie. It was fascinating, but not always action packed or accessible for kids.
I enjoyed it, but it was long. Oddly enough, I do think it would hold up better as 6 episodes. I was never bored though.
Score: 1
An extremely strong attempt at bringing the epicness of Lord of the Rings to the Marvel Universe. Too many characters and too little time for them to shine hurts the movie, but a brilliant script and excellent acting make it more than worth watching.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Hello,
Book and story ideas pop into my head more often than is comfortable. When one really sticks it’s like a piece of popcorn in my teeth and I don’t get full relief until I get it out on paper.
A Proof of Concept is kind of like a trial run. It’s me wiggling the popcorn (story) with my tongue.
This would be the third in my LGBT+ Romance / Northern Ontario Horror novels, along with Copper Tarnish and Parabiosis which I think will need a new name.
“Why the hell do you smell like antiseptic?” screamed my mother. I didn’t wait for my dad’s reply and closed my door. It was an open secret that Mr. Zelan had built himself a still and was selling alcohol from the back of the pharmacy.
It had been less then a month since we’d moved here. Somehow my parents thought that after ten years of fighting, cheating, and just generally being bad at being married; that moving into an experimental green community in the middle of nowhere would save their marriage.
I was extra pissed because I’d believed them and instead of doing my first year of university at Western or U of T like I wanted, I was stuck two hours northwest of Big Falls Ontario.
Aeter Aerospace had been around since they broke off from Door Technologies in 2004. It had since made a name for itself in every aspect of space travel technology. It created everything for both space missions and consumers. Because everyone needs space-worthy airfiltraion and aeroponics.
Aeter had decided that it needed a testing and development facility. So came the idea of creating The Community of Tomorrow. Build an approximation of what you’d need on Mars or the Moon and then fill it with two-thousand of the brightest, most gullible minds and their kids.
If the first month of this place was any indication, it was a damn good thing they didn’t try it in antarctica or actual space. There has so far been a murder suicide, two people escaping into the wild, and history’s lamest black market.
Not to mention the power outages.
I could hear my parents yelling even through the thick ‘space’ door. Everything here was space or tech or something that sounded like it was named by a middlegrader. The power went out and they didn’t stop fighting. If anything, it got worse.
I stormed out of my room. I’m not sure what I was going to do; yell, scream, tell them to get a divorce? Any thought I had left my mind when I saw them. Standing there yelling, but not moving, just standing with their arms at their sides, no emotion on their faces. Nothing was moving, but their lips.
That’s when I saw the thing for the first time. It unfolded itself from the shadows with a series of cracking noises that sounded wet. Its legs and arms were too long and it looked like it didn’t have any skin. What still keeps me up at night was its face. It looked like a skull with silly string oozing all over it and teeth in every hole.
It’s teeth chittered at me like a squirrel run through an autotune and then the power came back on and my parents started moving normally.
Okay. I’m liking this one. No idea when I’ll write it, but I look forward to it.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
So it’s the year 2022… Year three of the pandemic… It’s starting to feel like this is the year that our government and society give up on caring.
That might sound melodramatic, but as of Wednesday January 20th, Ontario has seen 10,801 deaths (According to Ontario Public Health). If you compare the deaths between the 31st of December and the 20th of January there’s a difference of 595. That means in the past 19 days Ontario is averaging 31 deaths a day. If the trend continues, we’re looking at probably doubling the deaths this year.
Yet despite rising hospital admissions and deaths, the government has sent unvaccinated 4 year olds back to school and is reopening indoor dining. It’s hard to believe this government cares about those of us who are considered high risk. (Babies, Kids, Immunocompromised, Fat, etc.)
I understand that I’m an extremist in my belief that human life is more important than money, economy, or other such things. I truly wish our government would do radical things like significantly increase spending on healthcare and education.
January is a hard month for me and for a lot of other people. So it’s hard to be hopeful right now.
My wife and I are extremely lucky and I thank the fates everyday for the privilege and advantages we have been given. I’m still sad for those that aren’t as lucky.
We will get through this and I hope that it’ll be with minimal loss of life and even less long term trauma.
Stay safe and be kind.
As they say in Everdome, “May your fractured nights be followed by glorious dawns.”
Éric
