Month: January 2019

Overzealous Recycling 002: Nothing really matters, anyone can see

/ Ian Casselberry / Leave a comment

malek_reading

This week’s cover photo alludes to Bohemian Rhapsody‘s surprising Golden Globe Awards win for Best Picture – Drama. The voters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association thought the Queen biopic was better than Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, A Star is Born and If Beale Street Could Talk. (I haven’t seen Beale Street yet, but hope to take care of that this weekend, now that it’s opened in Asheville.)

Obviously, this is all subjective and awards don’t matter that much, but come on. Bohemian Rhapsody was fun and a testament to the greatness of Queen’s music. But the narrative was a mess and the script played with the facts more than necessary. Yes, the re-enactment of Queen’s 1985 Live Aid performance was tremendous, even more so when you compare it to the real-life footage.

— Bohemian Rhapsody reminds us Queen was great, ignores too much about Freddie Mercury — 

This isn’t even a concession to popular tastes. If so, wouldn’t Black Panther have won that award? Maybe the voters just got caught up in the music and Freddie Mercury’s story (regardless of how the movie portrayed it). Or we just chalk this up to being the Golden Globes and winners don’t linger in the memory as they do with the Academy Awards.

But if the award got you to listen to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “We Will Rock You” or “Radio Ga Ga” over the past week, that’s not a bad thing.

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Amusement Park 021: Getting pumped for 2019! Marvel, DC, Comics, TV and Movies – Oh, My

/ Ian Casselberry / 1 Comment

rey_starwars

On the latest Amusement Park Podcast, we make up for last week when we briefly touched on the geek culture we were looking forward to in 2019. So we’re circling back for a longer list and some more in-depth thoughts. Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: Episode IX, The Punisher, Game of Thrones, DC Universe and more!

Also, we discuss Bohemian Rhapsody‘s surprising Golden Globes win and what we’re enjoying this week. That’s where I express my love for Cartoonist Kayfabe, the comic book nostalgia trip hosted by Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg, which has become my favorite thing to have on while I’m working.

https://soundcloud.com/casselberry/getting-pumped-for-2019-marvel-dc-comics-tv-and-movies-oh-my

We got a review on iTunes! The seal is broken, so hopefully you’ll join in with your own review.

You can subscribe to the Amusement Park Podcast everywhere you find podcasts:

Thank you for listening! Please give us a like on our Facebook page to help grow our audience. You can also give us feedback at amusementparkpod@gmail.com and find us on Twitter and Instagram. We’d love to hear from you!

Overzealous Recycling 001: OK, this might be a newsletter

/ Ian Casselberry / Leave a comment

bullock_readingIf you’ve taken the time to scroll through this blog’s archives — and truly, thank you if you’ve actually done so — you’ve walked a path largely littered with neglect and failed ambitions. Trying to maintain my version of a newsletter here definitely fell victim to that.

I enjoy newsletters a lot (although I’m trying to pare my subscriptions down during the new year) and would like to take a swing at one myself. (In a future post, maybe I’ll list some of my favorites.) But I doubt that I’d attract enough subscribers to make the venture worthwhile. If I’m wrong about that, please let me know and I’ll activate the MailChimp (“mail… kimp?“) signal.

However, I have no business running a newsletter unless I can produce content regularly. There’s a writing resolution for 2019. And if I want to actually create a newsletter, calling it “Not a Newsletter” while it’s in blog form probably sends the wrong message. After tripping over the phrase “overzealous recycling” a couple of months ago, I thought it could be a good title for a newsletter. So here we are.

These sorts of posts largely began as collections of links to my writing and articles I enjoyed. I haven’t written anything that I’d care to link to in recent months, but hope to change that. And I still find plenty of stuff that I think might interest you. Yet a newsletter should include much more than that. There should be some original writing, mixing in other content like video, photography, audio, and… recipes. (Those seem to be popular!)

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Amusement Park Podcast 020: From Bandersnatch to the Bird Box

/ Ian Casselberry / 1 Comment

bandersnatch_stefanIt’s a Netflix night on the first Amusement Park Podcast of 2019! How deep did we fall into the hole with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch? What’s in the Bird Box? Plus, the culture we’re excited about in 2019 and what we enjoyed this week.

https://soundcloud.com/casselberry/its-a-netflix-world

You can subscribe to the Amusement Park Podcast everywhere you find podcasts:

Thank you for listening! Please give us a review on iTunes and/or a like on our Facebook page to help grow our audience. You can also give us feedback at amusementparkpod@gmail.com and find us on Twitter and Instagram. We’d love to hear from you!

Always be checking your practice

/ Ian Casselberry / 2 Comments

snoopy_stormyHere we are at a new year, so here comes some new resolve. For me, that usually means some sort of resolution to write more — and especially keep this blog updated. In 2019, I’m hoping that sticks. And I hope you stick as a reader too.

During the last half of 2018, I really tried to achieve a better work-life balance. But I also spent much of that time grousing over how I wasn’t writing as much as I’d like. Getting into podcasting provided some fulfillment, and I hope to learn and do more there as people increasingly listen to podcasts, rather than read blogs.

But if I’m going to complain about not writing, well, I have an outlet for that — one which has led to some degree of professional success. I haven’t gotten much return on that investment in recent years, however. I can claim to be a writer, especially to prospective employers, yet can I really call myself that if I’m not writing?

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