Author: Alex Diaz-Granados
-
Life in the Time of COVID-19: Reaching the 200,000-Deaths Milestone, or ‘What We Have Here, is a Failure of Leadership’
Sometime soon – perhaps by the end of this weekend in September of 2020 – the official COVID-19 death toll in the United States of America will reach and surpass the 200,000 mark. Think about that a minute. 200,000 or more men, women, and children have died in the U.S. as a result of the…
-
Books and Stories: A Quick Overview of Ian W. Toll’s ‘The Pacific War’ Trilogy
In his afterword to Twilight of the Gods: The War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945, naval historian Ian W. Toll tells readers that his original concept when he started working on a new history of the Pacific War (1941-1945) was for a one-volume history of the 44-month-long conflict that began with the Japanese “blitz” against…
-
‘Star Wars’ Collectibles & Toys Review: Star Wars The Black Series Luke Skywalker & Yoda (Jedi Training) (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary) Deluxe 2-Figure Set
“You must unlearn what you have learned!” LUKE SKYWALKER AND YODA (JEDI TRAINING): At the urging of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda agreed to instruct Luke Skywalker, developing his Jedi abilities. – Hasbro promotional blurb On Tuesday, September 1, Hasbro released a deluxe two-figures set of Luke Skywalker & Yoda (Jedi Training) as part of its Star…
-
Musings & Thoughts for September 17, 2020: Of ‘Market-Garden,’ Waiting for Packages, and Other Bits of My Mind
Hello, there, Dear Reader (Constant and otherwise). It’s early afternoon on Thursday, September 17, 2020, and it’s a hot late summer day in my corner of Florida, Because the owner of the house where I live is off from work and is away running errands, I’m enjoying some rare weekday online time and writing this…
-
Old Gamers Never Die: Surviving the Battle of the Svalbard Islands in ‘Cold Waters’
Old Gamers Never Die: The Battle of the Svalbard Islands, 5 March 1984 Today I woke up on the Florida room couch at 3:37 AM after falling asleep watching A Nation of Drunkards, the third part of Prohibition: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. I briefly considered going to bed, but instead I…
-
Musings & Thoughts for Wednesday, September 16, 2020: More Stormy Weather
Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s just past 5 AM Eastern in my corner of Florida, and it’s still dark outside. Right now, the temperature outside is 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) under partly cloudy skies. As usual for a late summer day in the subtropics, the forecast for today says it’s going to be…
-
Book Review: ‘Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945’
On September 1, New York-based (and wholly-owned by its employees) publisher W.W. Norton & Company published Twilight of the Gods: The War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945, the concluding volume of Ian W, Toll’s Pacific War Trilogy, thus completing the story begun in Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific (2011) and The Conquering…
-
‘Star Wars’ Collectibles & Toys Review: Star Wars The Black Series Han Solo (Carbonite) (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary) Figure
Star Wars The Black Series Han Solo (Carbonite) (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary) Figure HAN SOLO (CARBONITE): Before attempting to trap Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader tested the carbon-freezing process on Han Solo. The smuggler survived and was later freed by Princess Leia in Jabba the Hutt’s palace. – Hasbro product description for…
-
Oh, Those End-of-Summer Blues & They Call the Wind…Sally
Don’t know whyThere’s no sun up in the skyStormy weather – Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler Well, it’s now early Sunday afternoon here in my corner of…er…not Paradise, but Florida, and the day is still a bit gray, damp, and even blustery. Right now it’s mostly sunny – at least at the spot where the…
A Certain Point of View, Too 