Characters of Cimmeria: Gregor

May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing arena, campaign, Cimmeria, Dnd, Dragovinian, Dungeons and Dragons, Enforcer, fighter, Game, Gregor, Jevaninada, Korjak, leader, orc, PC, prophecy, rebel, roleplaying, Sivirdm, Stanton, Wu

Gregor

Gregor is one of the four Dragovinian Enforcers restored to his mortal form by Apollo. He traveled with Sivirdm, Stanton, Wu, and Sergeant Korjak to recover the four missing pieces of the Druid’s Prophecy for the Rebellion. During this journey Gregor proved to be a ferocious combatant, but often attempted to solve problems with diplomacy rather than violence. After recovering the Prophecy pieces Gregor and his companions parted ways with the Rebellion. They traveled into the east to reunite the Orc tribes. Continue reading →

On Killing Book Review

May 6, 2017May 22, 2017 Mister Ed Politics army, behavior, book, data, Dave, desensitize, Grossman, gunpowder, killing, media, military, On Killing, PTSD, review, shooting, soldier, sublimation, television, TV, USA, video games, Vietnam, violence, War, warfare, world

On Killing

I finished Lt. Col Dave Grossman’s book On Killing recently. It’s about soldiers’ resistance to kill, how the military overcomes that instinct, and the larger reprecussions of that type of training on society. It is not a “how-to” book as I feared many people might’ve thought whenever I read it in public.

At the start I should say that Grossman presents a good case. He backs it up with hundreds of interviews with soldiers and his personal impressions from being in the service. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a lot of hard data to support his point. Why? Because for the most part there just haven’t been a lot of studies on how to get someone to kill another person. It ranges into the unethical territory of psychological studies. The data he does have is convincing. Continue reading →

David and Goliath Book Review

May 6, 2017May 22, 2017 Mister Ed Politics, Science, Social Stuff advantage, audio, book, David, disadvantage, Dune, dyslexia, Frank, Gladwell, goliath, Herbert, listen, Malcolm, nonfiction, read, review, underdog

I recently finished listening to an audiobook version of Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath. The nonfiction piece focuses on how being an underdog can occasionally confer advantages that the “overdog” doesn’t expect.

The book uses a wide-range of examples of underdogs overcoming their disadvantages and actually using them as jumping off points to topple bigger and stronger opponents.

This isn’t a new idea to me or the world. Scholars were peddling this theory at least 1,500 years ago when the Roman Empire fell. I first read about it in Frank Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece, Dune, where the fictional race of Freman are hardened by their desert homeland and are able to overcome the forces of the Padishah Emperor. Continue reading →

Beauty and the Beast Movie Review

April 15, 2017 Mister Ed Movies animated, Beauty and the Beast, Belle, Disney, Emma, fairy, Gaston, gay, Grimm, LeFou, live action, movie, music, Musical, remake, review, Song, tale, Watson

Beauty and the Beast

Disney’s latest live-action remake, Beauty and the Beast, is out and I’ve seen it.

The movie is very much a remake of the 1991 animated movie. The plot, the songs, the characters, all pretty much the same.

For those who aren’t familiar with the story (really though?) Beauty and the Beast tells the story of a cruel prince who is cursed by an enchantress. Continue reading →

Going In Style Movie Review

April 8, 2017April 15, 2017 Mister Ed Movies Alan, Arkin, bank, Caine, character, comedy, development, drama, Elder, Freeman, Going In Style, heist, Michael, Morgan, movie, old, pension, retired, review, steal

Going In Style

I saw Going In Style, the latest age-based comedy, and it wasn’t bad. Wasn’t great either though.

The comedy is about three guys, Joe, Bill, and Al, played by Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin respectively, whose pension funds are cut by the bank that bought the steel factory they used to work for.

Struggling to pay their bills and angry at the bank, they decide to rob it to get back at the entity that screwed them over. They hope to use the money to enjoy their old age by spending it with their families instead of restarting their careers.

There’s a few jokes, but I wouldn’t exactly call the movie a comedy, more like a heist movie that’s masquerading as a comedy. Continue reading →

Characters of Cimmeria: Zelus

April 3, 2017April 15, 2017 Mister Ed Classics, Dungeons and Dragons, Writing alliance, Amalius, Blendegad, campaign, character, Cimmeria, deity, Dnd, Dungeons and Dragons, Exiles, Game, god, greek, mythology, PC, roleplaying, world, zeal, Zelus, Zeus

Zelus

Zelus is the Classical deific embodiment of zeal itself. He encapsulates excitement, eagerness, rivalry, and unwavering devotion to a sworn cause. Zelus is one of the Daimons, the divine children of Pallas and the River Styx. He currently aids the Exiles in their quest to eradicate Dragovinians from the face of the earth.

Zelus has a complicated place in the Olympian pantheon. Continue reading →

The Shack Movie Review

March 6, 2017April 15, 2017 Mister Ed Movies, Social Stuff Alush, Aviv, Bible, Gensis, god, Graham, Greene, Matsubara, movie, Octavia, Omnibenevolent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Problem of Evil, review, Sam, Shack, Spencer, Sumire, testament, The Shack, Theodicy, theology, Worthington

I saw The Shack with my wife. We were expecting a spiritual journey movie like Field of Dreams or Peaceful Warrior. We got something far more overtly Christian than that.

The Shack stars Sam Worthington as Mack, a father who’s young daughter, Missy, is kidnapped and murdered. The tragedy ruins the lives of him and his family as they are consumed by depression.

Mack receives a note inviting him to spend the weekend at the eponymous shack where his daughter was murdered. The note is signed “Papa,” which is his family’s nickname for God.

Mack goes, half expecting the murderer to be there, but instead he finds that the note was actually delivered to him by God. Waiting at the shack are Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu (The Holy Spirit). Continue reading →

GoCorral

A place for Mister Ed to have his say.

Characters of Cimmeria: Gregor

On Killing Book Review

Beauty and the Beast Movie Review

Going In Style Movie Review

Characters of Cimmeria: Zelus