J.B. Sommerset

  "Trillium" (Photo credit: J.B. Sommerset 2024) My last quote of the week was about how mankind fails at happiness because he destroys it to find more. Part of the reason for this is that we also have no gratitude, instead we have anger, and a lot of it. So, here's your quote of the week: "It's a shame so many people prioritize anger over gratitude, no wonder there is so much pain in the world- that's what we have made a priority..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

Blame this one on Disney, they recently added the franchise to their lineup on Disney+, which means one thing to a guy like me: Marathon!  Let me clarify, I don't mean the old classics , and I don't mean the Mark Walberg / Tim Burton version (just threw up in my mouth a little). No I mean the modern remakes. That's right, this is a remake review. Something I almost never do, out of kindness. I usually only do them because I need to spit venom. Not this time, this time I have some praise to give. Most remakes are atrocious, poisoned with " the message " in attempts captivate new audiences, and make that sweet, sweet, cash-money! All the while betraying the original story and plot to bring something "relatable" to a new audience. In the process, the work loses it's context, it's believability, and it's soul. The reality is that a good writer creates a relatable story, no matter the audience because they are writing with themes that all people

Before I get started, just as an F.Y.I., a couple of my audiobooks have been flagged because of broken links, this should be fixed soon.  Moving on, this week I am going to call back to a favorite. This week I am calling back to H.P. Lovecraft , one of my favs. I have posted his work a couple times but I hold back a bit when it comes to him. A person can get tired of the same thing over and over. I ration it well. This week is going to be one of the times when I was in the mood for some out of this world body horror and occult mayhem. This week it's " The Horror at Redhook ". I hope you all enjoy! Cheers!

  "Shroom Twins" (Photo Credit: J.B. Sommerset 2024) Sometimes it's good to reflect on the state of happiness in the world. Sometimes it's good to take a blook around and see who is and who isn't happen and why. No matter the reason chances are the problem is one of personal view points. This one is mine, I might have posted this back in the 2023s, but I think it deserves a repost today. So here it is, your quote of the day: "Mankind seems to be the only animal on the planet that will ruin his happiness and wellbeing in the pursuit of more happiness and wellbeing..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!  

"Foggy Birch" (Photo credit: J.B. Sommerset) This time, I thought I would get all profound and philosophical with my quote of the week. For the most part I am a minimalist, and don't like a lot of extraneous detail when it comes to my writing and my art. However, occasionally I go out on a limb and post something complicated and "floral". This one is from one of my many works in progress. Hope you all like it. "Let it be said that we are all children; age is an assumption, it is relative to those who have aged. There are always older, wiser and more adult things in this world, and when we are among them, we are without the insights of maturation. In those times, we are children, no matter how old we are." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

You might have noticed that things are changing on the site. It's been a long while since I had the time to do any updates. I think now is that time. I am settled in the new digs, I am at one with the wild-life, and I have some time to catch up on a couple of things. Like I said, it's been a super long time since I updated anything on the site. Truth is, there's been a significant uptake in traffic and the old format is outdated and not working the way it used to. So here's the rundown of what will be happening over the next couple of months. 1) First, the site is going to get reworked. Not completely redone, just reworked for now. Google has migrated it's domains to Squarespace and we might be moving to that platform, not sure yet. I need to see how flexible it is and if it offers something that will make this process easier. 2) My gallery will be updated and old pictures will be removed, and new ones will be added. Also the stores that I sell my art through will b

As promised in my review of Rebel Moon part 1 , I return with a review of Rebel Moon part 2: The Scar giver . So, strap on them Imperium uniforms and prepare for this Space-Viking-cowboy-Nazi-science fiction space opera.  This is the second part, and the thrilling conclusion of Rebel Moon... Wait, what's that, it made too much money, there's going to be a third? Maybe? We don't know yet... um okay. We'll just move forward with this review and cross that bridge when the enemy comes to shoot us all to crap. By now, you might have heard, or at the very least surmised there would be more rebel moons out soon, 4 more if old Zach has anything to do with it. However, I am not so sure the next one, Rebel Moon 3 has been greenlit. There are rumors it has, and also that it will start filming in 2025. If they make it, I will review it. For now, let just focus on Part 2. Don't want to get caught up in the assumption game and get taken out of context. I liked the first one, and

"Sun on the Tracks" (Photo Credit: J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 ) Sometimes we need a reminder that the only thing that keeps us from being ourselves is the fear that there will be a fair amount of judgement with that endeavor. If there were no fear in the becoming than there would be no value in it's lessons and self actualization would mean nothing. So, here's a good quote in that vein... "I'll be here waiting, just the other side of your fear. So, are you going to come find me? Who am I you ask? Well, I am you, the you that is waiting for you to become." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

I really don't know how to feel about this review. I don't know how I feel about the show I just watched, hopefully, this can help sort it out. The fact that it's Amazon that did made this show, somehow makes it worse. Not sure if they are telling us about how they will manage the apocalypse, if they are just providing entertainment at this point, or if we are the entertainment or both... Anyway, here's an honest review of " Fallout ".  That's right, grab your two headed cow, get all your Stem packs together, and finish off that "nuka-cola", then lets ride out into the atomic sunset together- This week I will be reviewing Amazon's " Fallout " series. Buckle up vault-dwellers, strap on yer' pip-boys and enjoy the show. There is something to be said for the story telling and mastery thereof in certain video games, especially those made by old school "Bethesda". Some of the best story telling came from those early years.

When I was a kid I used to read every fantasy book I could get my hands on. Short stories, novels, comics, graphic novels, it didn't matter. Among those were some of the classics. I have posted a number of them over the years here on my site. But there is one author I can't seem to recall ever posting, and I really don't know why. If this is somehow a repost, I apologize. I don't think it is. This week we are going back to the The land of Narnia . I say back to, because most of you out there are very familiar with " The Chronicles of Narnia " by C.S. Lewis . If you haven't read the books, you most likely have seen one of the many film adaptations of them. My biggest disappointment was that only four of the books were ever made into movies, which is a shame because my two favorites were never even considered- " The Horse and his Boy " and " The Magician's Nephew ". I like " The Last Battle ", but it isn't my favorite. S

"Mud and Snow" (Photo Credit: J.B. Sommerset ) Sometimes it pays to have a "down to Earth quote" one that's really note sophisticated or complex, one that is simple, but makes since in ways that the common man can understand. I have a whole section in my notebooks dedicated to this kind of quote. I call it "the simple man section". Given that this is another election year, I thought this one fit the bill, enjoy.  "If you are going to be lazy and cut corners, you probably shouldn't do it while wiping your ass." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

  Sometimes I go looking for shows with certain actors in them just to see what those gifted sons a bitches are up to. I feel certain actors deserve follow up. This week I got curious about our favorite malcontented sheriff from Duffer-ville: David Harbour of Stranger Things . So, what has good old Jim Hopper been up to recently? David is one of those actors who's in more movies than most people think. He just shows up, does a fairly good job and then fades into the background like " Homer Simpson into that hedge" . David's filmography is fairly long, and he's in a number of my favorite shows and movies. From Stranger Things to the Marvel franchise he does a little for everyone. And who could forget one of my favorite quirky, gorey, and slapstick Christmas Movies- Violent Night ? But what has he been up to recently?  The good news is he's still acting. A quick search revealed a couple of new movies and some Netflix work. So, I decided to indulge. You might h

"Mushrooms on the Mountain" (Photo credit J.B. Sommerset 2023) Have you ever meant one of those people who is always stressed out and suffers from anxiety? It seems no matter how good they have it they will burn the village down because they don't feel like happiness is enough. Like there is something better and more important than being happy and content with things. I am not saying there is an issue with wanting more, I am saying, why would you destroy happiness to have more? Anyway, I thought this quote is apropos- "There are a lot of people who hate happiness despite what they might tell you, the majority of 'happy' people will gladly burry it under something else- anxiety, stress, disappointment. It can be irritating to watch these people. It's like they are trying to save their happiness and keep it locked away under all that bullshit, not even realizing that experiencing happiness is the point."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

Yep, that's right, this is an actual tech review, kind of. It's really a retro-tech review. I do very few tech reviews and they are far between. Sometimes they are about software, and sometimes they are about hardware. Most of the time they are about super cool pens. This one happens to be about one of the most controversial pieces of tech in the internet-o-sphere: The dreaded Chromebook... Before you come at me with your pitchforks and torches, let me state my case. And in this case, this review should have been done 4 years ago, minimum. This is old tech, at least in the digital world, this review is your grandfather, yelling at you to "get of his lawn". I mean the product was from more than 5 years ago.  I have talked about chromebooks before, the goods, the bads, and the weirds. Before you guys put the noose over my head and kick the stump, I will reiterate that Chromebooks aren't for everyone. Mostly students, although I would have hated to have one of these

Okay, for some reason this didn't post like it should have 2 weeks ago, so I am going to make up for it and post it now. Moving forward these will be on schedule, I am adding them to my workflow. Anyway, moving forward. We all know how much I loves me some Mark Twain , I have posted a lot of his works, form " Tom Sawyer " to " Huck Finn ", but for some reason I have never posted this one, which is weird, it sort of falls into his well known works. So, here it is, this week I am posting " The Prince and The Pauper ", Bon, appetite! Cheers!

"The Ocean of Cotton" (Photo Credit J.B. Sommerset 2023) Here's a literary quote for all you writers out there. For a while most of the things I was writing had a fair amount of satire in them. I don't put as much satire in my work any more, it's still there, but it has been toned down quite a bit and here's why... "The problem with satire is that the people whom it is intended for rarely understand it..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

While straggling through the wilderness of Netflix shows the other day I came across " The Three Body Problem ". I know of story, mostly of the Chinese novel   by the same name. It's on my reading list, I just haven't gotten to it yet. My list is pretty big, so I prioritize which ones I will read first. This one was high on my list, and that hasn't changed. I suspect there is more in the book than there was in the show. Normally I don't like to watch the show before I read the book, but in this case, I didn't see any good options- There's not much on Netflix I haven't seen, at least from a critical stand point. So when I see something new, I typically like to give it a spin. A lot of my friends recommended the book, so I knew something about it. It went on the old reading list when it was first translated. I decided to watch the show which made it to my plate first.  " The Three Body Problem " is an award winning Science Fiction book by

"The Dying Light" (Photo Credit J.B. Sommerset 2023) Sometimes it helps to remember that our habits and behaviors become us. It's hard to see it happening but we can become the things we hate in such a way. "Do not practice a thing that doesn't bring joy to your heart, for you might just become good at it..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers! 

"Golden Tipped" (Photo Credit: J.B. Sommerset 2024) This one is an oldie but goodie. It's a healthy reminder that happiness doesn't come from some outside thing, it is not to be purchased and it cannot be owned- only experienced. Lastly, that it is in fact a personal responsibility. "One of the secrets to happiness is not in the getting somewhere, or completeing something, it's in the being somewhere and doing something."  J.B. Sommerset (The Last of those who Walk) Cheers!

There are very few Adam Sandler movies I actually like. For the most part it's the same movie over and over again. It's okay sometimes. But I have to be in the mood to waste a couple of hours watching one of his movies. I guess you might say I have a love hate relationship with him and his work. Most of it, is very "Meh". There's only one Adam Sandler movie I will watch over and over again- outside of " Eight Crazy Nights ", which my family insists is a "Christmas movie". That movie would be, you probably guessed this one, " Happy Gilmore ". And it's really not even a good movie, it's just super nostalgic. There are some other movies he's in that are good, but they don't have a replay value- case in point " Reign Over Me ", " Punch Drunk Love ", and " Uncut Gems " among others. They're good movies, but they just aren't worth watching multiple times, especially Uncut Gems.  So when