Author: Alex Diaz-Granados
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Goodbye 2024…Hello 2025
Late Morning, Wednesday, January 1, 2025, Miami, Florida Well, another year has ended, and here I am, starting 2025 in my hometown of Miami, 1,616 miles from where I lived – Madison, New Hampshire – at the start of 2024. Instead of waking up to a chilly New England morning with a mix of light…
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Music Album Review: ‘Kiri Sings Gershwin’: A Swinging Tribute to Timeless Classics
Kiri Sings Gershwin (1990) Label: EMI Records Genre: Standards/Crossovers Artists: Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), John McGlinn (conductor), New Princess Orchestra Release Date: October 25, 1990 Regular readers of this blog won’t be surprised. Still, I seem to follow the beat of a different drummer because I prefer older musical styles to contemporary ones, especially when…
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Old Gamers Never Die: Some Thoughts on ‘Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age’ (Early Access)
I’m an avid enthusiast of naval combat simulations. My journey began in the spring of 1987, when my uncle Sixto gifted me my very first computer, an Apple IIe. The first game I eagerly added to my collection was Destroyer, a 1986 single-player simulation of a Fletcher-class destroyer crafted by Epyx Games. Set in the…
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Music Album Review: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Shines in Kiri Sings Kern
Kiri Sings Kern (1993) Label: Angel/EMI Records Genre: Crossover/Standards Artists: Kiri Te Kanawa (Soprano), London Sinfonietta (Orchestra), Jonathan Tunick (Conductor/Arranger) Release Date: March 16, 1993 Jerome Kern (1885-1945) remains one of the most influential composers in American popular music. Alongside legends like Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers, the New York-born Kern…
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A Lazy Saturday Afternoon in Miami…December 28, 2024
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Computer and Video Games, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Miami….Again, Life in South Florida, MicroProse Software, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile AgeAfternoon, Saturday, December 28, 2024, Miami, Florida Wow. Here I am, on a cloudy Saturday afternoon in Miami, Florida, December 28, 2024, with my blinds drawn closed. It’s nearly 2 PM, and half of my Saturday has slipped away, all thanks to my late-night escapades that led to a lazy morning. Now I’m feeling a…
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Old Gamers Never Die: In Harm’s Way at the Straits of Hormuz in ‘Sea Power’
I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm’s way. – John Paul Jones Back in 1989, while I was studying journalism at Miami-Dade Community College, I proudly owned an Apple IIe computer. Besides writing, my limited social life meant I spent countless…
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‘Twas the Day After Christmas, or: In The Holiday Mood, Part III
Afternoon, Thursday, December 26, 2024, Miami, Florida ‘Twas the day after Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The manuscript lay still, with no progress in sight, For the writer was weary, after a long, restless night. The morning had come with the sun’s early rise, Yet…
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In the Holiday Mood, Part II
Afternoon, Wednesday, December 25, 2024, Miami, Florida Well, fate has a funny way of bringing us full circle, doesn’t it? Just a year ago, I was decking the halls in snowy New England, and now, here I am, celebrating Christmas in my sunny, sandy hometown of Miami. It’s a bit surreal, to be honest. I…
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Old Gamers Never Die: A Perfect Victory in Sea Power’s ‘Hair Trigger Scenario’ Kicks Off My Christmas Celebration
Midafternoon, Tuesday, December 24, 2024, Miami, Florida Since I am not working today, I decided to play Hair Trigger, one of the shortest – and easier – scenarios in Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age. Today the developer announced that a couple of new patches for the game had been uploaded in time…
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In the Holiday Mood
Afternoon, Tuesday, December 24, 2024, Miami, Florida Hi, everyone! Well, it’s the 24th of December, and I’m trying to accept that this is my first Christmas in Miami since December 2015. It’s also my first Christmas in Florida since I left my previous domicile in the Tampa Bay area a year and 12 days ago…
