Author: Alex Diaz-Granados
-
‘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…
-
Musings & Thoughts for Sunday, September 13, 2020: The End is Nigh for the Weirdest Summer Ever
Hi, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Musings & Thoughts. It’s late morning here in my corner of Florida as I sit here in my writer’s study, but I had a rather sleepless night, so I’m tired and weary in both body and spirit. Right now, the weather picture for today is rather dreary;…
-
Book Review: ‘The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 (Volume II of the Pacific War Trilogy)
On September 21, 2015, W.W. Norton & Company – an independent, employee-owned publishing company based in New York City – published Ian W. Toll’s The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944. This is the second book in Toll’s Pacific War Trilogy, which begins with Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942…
-
Book Review: ‘Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 (Volume I of the Pacific War Trilogy)
On November 14, 2011, W.W. Norton & Company published Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942, the first volume of Ian W. Toll’s Pacific War Trilogy. In twelve chapters and an epilogue which take up 493 pages of narrative, Toll covers the first six months of the Pacific War that pitted the Japanese…
