Hello Coffee Lovers,
Last year, in the Advent Calendar, we had a few experimental flavours. People raved about the Bavarian Cream flavour.
It’s now available on our store.
Reminder that we’re still taking preorders for the Holiday Calendar.
Be safe and stay caffeinated,
Éric
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
At Renaissance CON (June 2020), S.M. Carrière noticed my beard that I started growing out in January 2020. She mentioned it was an impressive COVID beard and I said, “It’s a novel beard. I’ll shave when I finish this darned book.”
Fast forward to last week and I finally finished the darned book.
Here are pictures of a wild bearded author who just finished his book (and received another):
And now here are the pictures of a newly sheared author who has much too much face for his own liking:
You can get any of my books at your local bookstore, or if you’d like, you can buy them on our website under the header of books.
Thank you!!!
Be kind and stay safe,
Éric
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2011 film The Three Musketeers.
The basic story is there with all it’s swash and buckle. There’s a few interesting twists and some fun clock-punk elements (like steampunk with with clockwork mechanisms instead of steam power.)
It’s a lot of talking, scheming, fighting, and quipping.
Score: 0.5
There’s a lot of variation that can be had with these characters. It worked extremely well with this group. I particularly like the changes in Milady, the King, and Queen.
The acting was purposefully and wonderfully over the top. Orlando Bloom channels a combination of Tim Curry and Alan Rickman, which I’d love to see more of.
Score: 0.5
The dialogue vassalates wildly from pure cheese to genius.
Score: 0.5
The movie is absolutely beautiful. The saturation, in my opinion, should have been higher, but other than that it was a beautiful film.
The music was great at what it did, occasionally feeling like a videogame, but it worked.
Score: 1
The kids weren’t big fans of anything but the action, but there was plenty of that to keep the five year old entertained. I thoroughly enjoyed the ridiculous action, sets, and history bending.
Score: 1
This clock-punk take on the Three Musketeers is action-packed and filled with fantastic action. It has all the excellent elements of action and over the top visuals that are the director’s standard.
Overall, it’s a lot of fun.
Final Score: 3.5 stars out of 5
I “passed” the lesson I was working on for the past two days. Tbh, I was tired of playing it and I think the only reason I wasn’t getting 3 stars was because my mic wasn’t picking up the chords properly. I passed it according to the app, so I moved on.
I learned A! I mean, I already knew that chord, but I got to learn it in the app. I got to complete another “play as many chords as you can in a set amount of time” game. I got 3 gold stars. It was super fun.
Then I passed the first song with an A chord. I feel good about today.
I played my song a few times. The chords are becoming easier to switch between.
Then I played a bunch of songs that I have chords for, including I want it that way, Hit Me Baby One More Time, Mamma Mia, Dust in the Wind, House of the Rising Sun, and a few Disney songs.
I played too long, I think. It’s just so exciting to recognize the music that I’m playing!!
I don’t think I aggravated my blister, but I think I’ll probably play the ukulele tomorrow.
Oh, and then at the end of my session, a friend of mine told me that she hasn’t been feeling well, so I recording my song and sent it to her. She loved it.
Listening to the recording, I realized that I’m not consistent with my speed in certain parts… Mostly the chorus. So I’ll have to work on that.
My finger wasn’t feeling great today, so instead of playing guitar, I picked up our soprano ukulele.
I’m not doing lessons with the ukulele, so I went straight into playing songs.
Peeps, you have no idea how awesome it is to pick out a song, go through the chords at the top of the app, and just play and have it sound like it’s supposed to!
I recognize that this is mostly due to my experience—slight though it is—on the guitar. The chords are different on the ukulele, but the concept of changing finger positions and strumming is very much the same.
I played for almost an hour and barely noticed the time fly by. So much fun!!
Oh, and after I’d played enough songs that I remembered what the chords we, I played my song! That was really fun.
I had a great lesson today! I passed the lesson I was working on two days ago with no problems, and then passed the next two lessons on the first (and second) tries!
I played my song, paying attention to the timing of the chorus so I wasn’t speeding it up.
I really need to schedule a music mentor session.
I played a bunch of fun songs, including True Colours and When you Believe.
I still can’t get over how much fun I’m having with this.
I didn’t do a lesson from my app today because I had a meeting with my music mentor!
He walked me through strumming to my song and we decided to keep it simple because adding a more complex rhythm kept messing up my melody.
But I do understand how strumming works a bit better now.
We also talked about the sight changes that I’d made to the chords in my song. He approved the E major, confirmed that the A major he had suggested a while ago did work for the song, and suggested Em instead of Dm at the end of the bridge.
He said I’m doing really well. It’s really great to hear that. 🙂
He also suggested a finger stretch. I’ll definitely work on that.
I had an audience today in the form of my daughter.
I completed the chords lesson and started the riffs lesson. It’s my first riffs lesson! I learned E5 and A5. I need to figure out how to play those.
I played my song, with a second voice singing along (heart melt!) and was very happy with how it sounded.
Then I played a bunch of Disney songs. That was fun. And an enthusiastic audience, too!
The riffs lessons are going decently. I feel awkward playing them. Hopefully they’ll get more natural as I continue.
I played my song a bunch of times. I’m really happy with it. I know I keep saying that, but I am. After I’ve played it a couple times, anyways. I always make mistakes the first few times.
Then I played some new (to me) songs. Ed Sheeran was fun. I played some more ABBA. And Disney, of course.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12
“Do you think the whole station just lost life support or just this room?” I asked.
“Depends on how lucky we are.” For a woman chained to a wall in a high military research station who was trying to outsmart a Sun Speaker who could tell the future, she sure sounded confident.
“Assuming this room is airtight, I guess we have about two hours worth of air. Seems like we failed this mission.” I tried not to sound too defeated, but it was hard. I’m not sure if I was more disappointed to be dying or that I hadn’t had a chance to kiss Onyx yet. No, it was definitely the second part.
“You’ll get a chance to kiss the handsome doctor. Don’t worry,” Diamond said with a chuckle. Just when I was about to ask if she was psychic, she replied, “I’m not psychic, but I recognize attraction when I see it.”
“Too bad. It’d be nice to have a psychic on our side. It might counter the Sun Speaker.”
I sat down and Diamond said, “I realize we’re in the dark and all, but would you mind picking the locks on these chains?”
“Tired of hanging out with me?” I asked as I found my lockpicks. Maybe ‘lockpicks’ is a generous term for a small cutting torch and various tools.
I’d cut through the shackles around her ankles and one hand when I heard a deep rumbling. I hurried with the last wrist and Diamond pushed me towards the door.
“Did you know this room is on the outside of the station?” she asked.
“Sounds like a dumb place for a jailcell,” I replied, needing to shout over the sound of metal grinding.
“Where’s a prisoner going to go, into the black? They’d rather protect the experiments from stray asteroids and radiation spikes.”
I started to see sparks and then all noise stopped. I stepped forward and Diamond stopped me. The wall blew outwards and what was left of our air followed right behind it. We were sucked into the cold dark of space and for a moment I felt like every part of my body was being pulled and pushed in all directions. It wasn’t a fun feeling.
I thought my lungs were going to explode and suddenly strong hands were pulling us into the Revenge.
When the airlock recompressed, I was shivering so hard I thought I was going to chip a tooth. Onyx ran in with blankets and wrapped us both in them. “When you two can walk, I need you to get fully checked out.”
Diamond stood up, something I found extremely impressive since I wasn’t sure what part of me did that. She said, “I need to be on the bridge. We need to get out of here.”
She managed three steps before collapsing into Flint, who’d finished taking off his space suit.
I looked around and counted when I finished, I counted again. I was definitely suffering from oxygen deprivation. I said, “Piloting Sphene the ship is?” That didn’t sound right and I tried again, “Ship is Sphene-ing the pilot?” Nope that wasn’t it either.
Onyx smiled, it was much too distracting a smile, and said, “Yes, and I think you need some oxygen.”
Time passed and between the oxygen, blanket, and his smile, I started to feel better.
“They’ve got to be following us,” I said, suddenly panicking. I got up and headed towards the bridge. Sphene was sitting in the co-pilot chair and at some point Flint must have taken over the pilot’s chair.
“How many?” I asked.
“No one’s following us,” Flint said with a small drawl. “I’ve used four jump gates and switched our transponder twice. It would take a psychic to follow us.”
From behind me, Diamond said, “Even then they can’t track us. Flint, get us to home base and then we’ll talk. Garnet, I need you and me to head to medical and get checked out.”
I wanted to protest, but she was right. I needed to make sure this ringing in my head was just stress and the cold of space and not something worse.
Onyx gave me a quick check and then put me under a scanner while he checked on Diamond.
“You could improve that holo-emitter by using a stronger power source and using a small engine capacitor to stabilize the image. It would make it harder for someone to know.”
With a slight chuckle, Diamond said, “That sounds good. I’ll write that down for my replacement.”
Both Onyx and I said, “Replacement?” at the same time.
“Yes. This is my last job. I have enough money and my heart’s not in this anymore. I’m going to settle down with Ronnie and retire.” She looked us both over and said, “I’m retiring, not dying. Diamond has always been a mantle and it’s past time to pass it on.”
I didn’t know what to say. The idea of retiring was completely alien to me. I spent my life expecting to die in combat, fighting the great war that was coming, and when I ran away, I assumed I’d be hunted and killed.
“Good for you,” I said awkwardly.
“Let’s just get to home base and send these plans out. You did get them, right?” Diamond asked.
“Yes. Why didn’t you ask earlier?”
“You’re not the only one with issues right now,” she said.
Onyx clapped his hands and said, “You’re both going to be fine. You need some food and rest, but you’re healthy otherwise.”
“Talking about food, do you have any of that spaghetti left?” I asked.
Alarms went off and Flint’s voice came over the speaker. “We’ve got company. There are three dreadnaughts and a lot of destroyers between us and home base. All Black-Sun.”
Dreadnaughts were the largest ships in the Black-Sun fleet, averaging six kilometres long, with a crew manifest of over thirty thousand. I’d never heard of three of them ever being deployed, other than in training missions.
While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:
Want to learn more about what Sun Speakers are? Check out what the one in our solar system is up to.
In the distant future humanity has spread to the other planets in our solar system. These stories follow Hal (a prophet for a godlike entity that lives in the sun), and his friends, as they try to make the solar system a better place.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7
Dear Little Dragon,
It’s been a fantastic year for you. You’ve grown a lot. Physically about 3 inches, emotionally you’ve matured a lot.
You finished your first year of école and learned a lot:
You’ve learned a lot of non-école stuff too:
Potty training feels like a distant memory, you’re doing amazing. I’m so glad we don’t have to fight with you as often, although you still hate being told to go pee.
When you were barely able to talk, you pointed at the peanut butter jar and said, “Walmart.” I asked how you knew and you pointed at the logo on the side. When we went on trips you’d point out stores that you knew, or billboards for shows. You’re still doing things like that and with even more nuance. You can recognize the graphics and style of a Miyazaki film from the tiny Totoro and understand that it’s the same company, not a series.
The past year has seen you get a little pickier with your food. It’s no longer just not wanting to try new food, you’re starting to have very definite likes and dislikes. You love sweet dips but can’t stand gravy, you love chicken nuggets and strips, but can’t stand stuffed chicken. You love spaghetti and dislike lasagna and chilli. You also don’t like food that’s messy that you have to eat with your hands, like pizza or tacos. I’m starting to wonder if you’re not a fan of melted cheese.
We did a lot of cooking and baking together, you and I, for your homeschool. It was a lot of fun and I liked your excitement at making new things.
I feel like I’m getting a clearer picture of who you will grow up to be. You’re sweet, confident, stubborn, clever, and empathic. You’re a lot like your mum and that’s a good thing. I look forward to seeing who you are later, but I’m not in any rush. I’m loving who you are now.
I hope your fifth year sees a vaccine for you and a return to society for all of us. I can’t wait to do another convention with you and travel. I love the way you see the world.
Happy Birthday Little Dragon!
I love you lots!
Papa
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2016 film Barbie: Spy Squad.
Definitely geared towards younger audiences, it’s a solid intro into the secret agent / spy genre. The twist was predictable for me, but I’ve seen a lot of these.
Score: 0.5
The main three characters are the usual super awesome Barbie and friends. They fit into the basic spy stereotypes very well. The techie computer guy felt really relatable and the over-the-top spy aunt was pretty funny.
The villain felt a little meh and the heel-face turn was abrupt and could have used more set up.
Score: 0.5
The dialogue oscillates between cutesy and inane. There are a few funny jokes and the overall message is good.
Score: 0.5
The visuals are standard Barbie movie with lots of cute spy and action bonuses. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible.
The music is catchy… too catchy. They have 1 song and they use it A LOT!
Score: 0.5
I enjoyed this the first time I watched it. It has constantly been on of my daughters favourite movies since she could ask for it. She used to say she was going on missions with her spy girls and then do a bunch of flips.
Score: 1
One of the best Barbie movies available with a strong message and catchy music. It’s a great intro into spy and action movies without the gratuitous violence. It’s fun and one of my daughter’s favourite movies.
Score: 3 stars out of 5
I just realized that my fingertips haven’t been hurting for a while. At least, not once I stop playing. That’s really comforting.
I played the chord song in my app today (Am/D/C). I shifted my phone closer to the body of the guitar and it registered the sound much better, which was a relief. I was getting very frustrated.
I played my song again. I’m really liking the Fmaj7 chord in place of the F chord. I changed one of them to a Dm chord. We’ll see how I like it tomorrow.
I also should play it for my music mentor and see what he says. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week.
I played the chord song I was going to start yesterday but my time got cut off. I passed eventually. It had some quick changes between Em/C/D. I found it exhilarating. I then played the next song once. Same chords, different order; Em/D/C and slightly faster.
I then played my song. I took less time to switch between chords, which was really nice to note. I decided I liked the Dm chord that I put in yesterday. I updated the master song and let my music mentor know.
And then I played my song for my family! It was really nerve wracking. I need to get over my anxiety about playing for others.
I didn’t pass the lesson today. According to the app I did, but not according to me. I was getting very frustrated.
I played my song several times. My music mentor suggested that I was doing a key change in the bridge, so I tried that out and he’s totally right, so I changed that.
Then I tried a bunch of different songs in an app I have. Dust in the Wind, You’ll be in my Heart, At Last I see the Light, and Part of Your World. I didn’t know all the chords (I don’t know B at all yet), but I did very well, according to myself.
I played for way too long today. My fingers are tingling!
But it was so fun to play songs that I can recognize!
I took a break from playing guitar today because my middle left finger has a tiny blister and I don’t want to make it worse.
So instead, I picked up the soprano ukulele that we bought and I played a bunch of songs, including my new favourite Unsaid Emily from Julie and the Phantoms. It was super easy to play and made me feel really accomplished.
Hopefully I’ll be healed tomorrow and can continue my guitar lessons.
My finger looks and feels better today. I’m glad I took yesterday off from the metal strings of my guitar.
Today, I played the chord song from two days ago and got it. That was nice.
Then I played the next chord song. My fingers are getting faster at switching between the chords, which is really nice to see, but my fingers were clumsy today and I kept not being on my fingertips, which was causing dull notes all over the place. I did not pass, thanks to that. 🙁
I played my song. I still love it. I don’t think I have a good strumming pattern down at all, but at least my fingers are getting used to the chord changes. Other than the bridge. I’ll get there. The Dm is slowing me down.
I didn’t play very long today. Don’t want to aggravate my finger again.
I did not pass the lesson in my app (according to my restrictions. The app passed me.) I’m getting very frustrated.
I played my song. I still love it. I’m getting faster with the chords, even the bridge.
Then I played a few songs from an app I have. That was a LOT of fun!
