Oh man, I have waited sooo long to see these guys!!
I was just a kid when they first hit the American airwaves – Sophomore year of high school if I recall – and never got the chance to see them live before they started getting overlooked and leftout in the world of music.
The Hoodoo Gurus are one of those bands that are hard to define. When they first broke they were certainly lumped into the New Wave category, but their influences are obviously wide ranging. You can hear British Invasion, 70’s Detroit garage rock, surf music, a little twang of Americana/Rockabilly all thrown in the mix, but what comes out the other end is something wholly original and one-of-a-kind.
From the Stone Age Romeos era…
They announced a tour a couple years back and I was ecstatic! I grabbed tickets the day they went on sale. Then “The Plague” hit… Show postponed. Then show canceled and tickets refunded. Sad days indeed.
But finally, FINALLY the day has arrived and we’re off to one of our previously visited venues, the Great American Music Hall in the sewer on the Bay, San Francisco. (Yes, everything you see in the news about SF is true, sadly.)
We got to the venue a tad bit late and much to our surprise, Hoodoo Gurus was already on stage, doing their thing. NO opening act. D’oh! I was a little bummed out that it appeared that we’d missed a third of their set, but gratefully I was proven wrong. The Gurus poured out a set nearly 2 hours long! It was FANTASTIC!
They played ALL my old favorites, and several gems I’d forgotten about! And a few tunes from their recent album that was just released. It was a great set, top to bottom. And as a special treat, they brought out a couple guys from seminal SF Hippy band, the Flamin’ Groovies for the last couple tunes in the encore.
The band was in fine form, and if you didn’t know of them you’d never guess these guys were in their 60’s or thereabouts. Lots of energy on stage, the playing was great and the vocals were on point, including the harmonies. The Gurus were really on their game last night!
Thanks for a great night fellas! I regret that it took me nearly 4 decades to catch your live show, but it was well worth the wait, and then some!
As I’ve mentioned a few times lately, I’ve been in a bit of a funk and having a heck of a time digging my way out of it. So today, I turned off the news, steered clear of the doom and gloom websites and jumped into some good ol’ music.
Now, I love all kinds of music – from the 1940’s all the way up through new stuff coming out today and across pretty much all genres – but when I really need a boost, when I really want to shut down the niggling voice in my head that won’t shut up about the world at large, nothing and I do mean NOTHING does it for me like Power-Pop from the mid 70’s through the mid 80’s. To this day it still gives me the feelz, in the best possible way! So without further delay, here are a few gems from days gone by. Back when music was played by musicians and vocal harmonies were sang, not multi-tracked and auto-tuned to the point of absurdity. Back when college radio was the BEST thing on the airwaves! Enjoy!
Hi, I’m J, and I’m a Power Popaholic!!
Enjoy your weekend everybody. Get out there and enjoy life!
There are so many things seemingly going wrong at this point in history, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it all. We are bombarded daily with the latest scandal, the latest crime, the latest business failure, the latest forecast of bleakness in any number of areas…and yet NOTHING ever seems to change for the better.
So that got me to thinking, maybe that is WHY we’re being bombarded. To keep us distracted like a shifty 3-card Monty scammer working a rube.
For example, when was the last time you heard anything about Sam Bankman-Fried? Major, massive scandal. Lost (stole) BILLIONS of dollars – much of which went to political donations. Corruption and deceit the likes of which we might see once in a generation. Wall to Wall news and punditry coverage at first, until the political and academic connections came to light and then…crickets.
How about the Twitter Files? Even if all the information that was released WAS “cherry picked”, it still exposed our government as highly unethical and deceiving, if not outright criminal and operating clearly outside their bounds. At taxpayer expense, no less. A couple congressional hearings later and again, crickets.
Just off the top of my head in the last year we’ve got the border situation, the whole (extremely gross and pathetic) Biden family saga (son’s laptop, daughter’s diary, brother’s shady “business”, and ol’ puddin’ head Joe ON CAMERA AND BRAGGING about using his influence as VP to call off the dogs that were investigating his son’s “employer” amongst other things). We’ve got citizens still locked up TWO YEARS LATER without trial over a protest of the the shadiest election ever held in our country, and the ONE GUY seen repeatedly and often encouraging and enticing other protesters to break laws is walking around free and they are trying really hard to make him out to be a victim.
We’ve seen the beginning dominoes fall in what is sure to be another banking meltdown. All followed by calls of “All is Well!”, while our “leaders” are caught red-handed selling off stocks – just in time, I might add – to avoid personal losses. Then to add insult to injury, the mega banks buy up the good stuff for pennies on the dollar and leave the toxic stuff for the taxpayers to swallow. And then the Fed bumps up interest rates again.
We’ve got near daily reports of racially motivated violence, enough homeless people to fill a mid-sized city, massive amounts of drugged out zombies wandering the cities causing filth and danger to skyrocket. Store after store after store are closing up shop due to unfettered theft and violence toward their staff.
Then of course there is history’s biggest money laundering scheme happening over in Ukraine, where US taxpayers watch their money evaporate into the ether while the Ukrainian elite run around in Bentleys and live an insanely lavish life, while everything around them goes to hell. Not to mention pulling us ever closer to World War III.
Then we have the ever increasing culture wars brewing here at home. Americans by and large (obviously not all, duh) are respectful and tolerant of others, UNTIL you start making demands of them. That’s where we are now, the fringe elements are demanding EVERYBODY bend to their will and support their ways, while simultaneously espousing hate and intolerance for anyone that doesn’t. Quite ironic in my humble opinion.
All this yammering about the “climate crisis” (I’m not sure if that is the correct term this week, it’s changed so many times since the 1980s I’ve lost count) and yet we’re allowing MILLIONS of people to come here with no way to house, feed or employ them all as they help further deplete what natural resources we have. Pushing all electric EVERYTHING when we don’t have nearly the electric grid capacity for anywhere near the growth of use they are demanding.
I could go on and on and on, I’m afraid. All these have just been stream-of-consciousness, off the top of my head. My point being, OF COURSE we can’t solve all this right now. It’s simply too much and too divergent.
To solve problems, you have to have FOCUS. You need time to think. Even when you have a “solution”, those take time, energy, resources to implement. And you have to have the WILL to stick to the program and see things through. You have to be willing to change things up when a plan isn’t working the way you thought it would. You have to work around unseen obstacles and deal with unintended consequences. You must commit to solving the problem.
Even IF we had honest, commited local, state and federal governments (which we absolutely do NOT!), even IF they got together and prioritized all this mess, and decided “OK. We’re going to start with this ONE thing, and everything else can wait” there are so many interwoven issues, it would take a lifetime to unravel it all.
And so NOTHING happens, except more and more crap heaped upon We the People.
The Progressives hate the Moderates, the MAGAs hate the neocons, the liberals hate the conservatives… And vice-versa. But overall the battle between the extremes on BOTH sides are driving lots of people into “Independent” because they don’t want anything to do with either side of these whackadoos. But when most of the government’s “work” is directed towards the two extreme ends of the divide, the important stuff that MOST of us actually care about gets put on the back burner, tossed aside for later or just completely ignored. Which in turn makes people angrier, more distressed, LESS compassionate, and more unwilling to compromise. Wash, rinse and repeat.
The way I see it, either our “leaders” are so inept and worthless, that they are simply incapable of fixing things OR they are so corrupt and self centered, that they are driving the populace to madness in order to tear up the rule book and turn us into something other than what our country was founded to be. Either way, we peons lose.
Identity politics are for a people that have nothing else to worry about. That ain’t us. There are mounting problems – major, life changing problems – that will effect ALL OF US. Whether you are a gung-ho warhawk that thinks the USA should be overthrowing regimes, a bearded lady, a kale-munching, whale hugging neo-hippie, a staunch constitutional adherent, an An-Cap, a trad wife or a professional leftist agitator… we ALL gotta eat. We’d all like to have a roof over our heads. We don’t want to feel like our lives are in danger when we step foot into a city, or a church or a movie theater. We’d like to feel like our representatives actually represent US rather than corporations and special interests… But instead of focusing on the basics, we’re fighting over pronouns and “hate” speech and a bunch of other crap that means nothing in the big scheme of things.
Our country, and many others honestly, are in for a world of hurt. It’s beyond past time to out aside these idiotic, petty differences and focus on the basics. Real, honest food. Clean, potable water. A robust infrastructure, free from crumbling bridges and pothole ridden streets. Reasonable, basic education- reading, writing, arithmetic AND civics. Public safety. A medical system that cares for patients more than pharmaceutical companies. Everything else is gravy. And it can wait.
We have people making laws and passing regulations on things that they have NO working knowledge of. And a complicit media machine cheering them on.
For instance, my idiotic state passed regulations on fluorescent bulbs, essentially outlawing them as of next year. Did the jackasses making this regulation take into account just how many fluorescent light fixtures there are in California? They couldn’t possibly know. In my facility, which is only about a millions square feet, we have over 4,000 fluorescent fixtures still, after doing multiple LED conversion projects over the last 5 years. That is ONE facility, in one city. Basically, they set up a regulation that CANNOT be met in their time-line. Even if it could be done logistically, think of the MILLIONS of dollars required to implement it – many small businesses and smaller landlords simply can’t afford it – imagine the sheer amount of waste product generated by doing this, some of it toxic. So we’ll have tens of millions of new light fixtures required, the vast majority of which will come from China AND thousands of tons of waste going into the landfill sites, all on the name of being “sustainable”. Will all those fluorescent replacements then allow the capacity for charging tens of thousands of new electric cars, now that gasoline powered vehicles will also be banned from sale in a couple short years? Not bloody likely, especially considering how much high density housing the state is forcing every municipality to shove into every nook and cranny. The whole thing is a slow motion disaster unfolding before our very eyes, and there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing we can do about it. The blind leading the stupid in the race to the bottom.
I may be old fashioned, in that I still believe in American ideals. I’m not naive enough to believe that America hasn’t done some bad, really bad things in the past, but I don’t believe that defines us as a nation either. A nation is defined by it’s people, not it’s government. We are far from perfect, no question, but our FOUNDATION allows us to be the greatest, most freedom oriented nation the world has ever seen. We’ve sadly lost sight of that. Our “leaders” sold all that promise out from under us and we let it happen.
As I’ve mentioned before, at my core I’m an optimist. I don’t believe we’ve come to the end of the American experiment. But I DO believe we are fast approaching sink or swim time. Do we want our grandchildren to inherit a bastion of freedom and opportunity or another failed state like South Africa or Venezuela?
We need to come together as countrymen, put aside the petty squabbles and hold the feet of our “leaders” to the fire. We the People are THEIR employers, and it’s high time we start reminding them of this fact.
The time for going along to get along has passed. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place. Right is right and wrong is wrong and we need to stop pretending otherwise. Likewise, your bad decisions are not everyone’s problem. If you screw up, own it, change it and move on with your life in a more positive way. We MUST stop relying on the government goons to take care of us. They clearly are not up to the task anyhow.
We’re Americans, we have a proud and fierce History. Our ancestors changed the world against all odds. It is time to remember their faces and pick up where they left off.
My apologies for the rant. This wasn’t what I had in mind when I started writing, it just kinda took on a life of its own. I’ve been in a horrible funk for the last couple months and I guess it just came to a head. Nonetheless, I stand by it. Nobody is “coming to save us”, and it could be argued that they are actively trying to take us down. It is up to us – you, me, everyone that considers themselves an American, to turn the tide and return to civility, order and common sense.
It has taken me a long time to write this, but as we’ve reached the anniversary of the passing of Jim, I feel the time has come.
James Dakin, better known as “Lord Bison” to his loyal Minions, was a one-of-a-kind author and blogger, and turned out to be one of the best people I’ve known.
I first came across his website (bisonprepper.blogspot.com) back around 2014 and became an immediate follower. I’d been going down the prepper rabbit hole for a few years and felt very knowledgeable in the subject, but when I found Lord Bison, everything I thought I knew about preparedness was turned on it’s head.
Jim’s perspective on the world, and the direction it was headed may have been completely different from his contemporaries, but he made very valid arguments from outside the box.
He wrote numerous non-fiction books on the subjects of preparation and frugality, I couldn’t tell you exactly how many, but I’ve got at least 8 of them. And he posted a couple thousand articles on his website. To say he was prolific is an understatement!
One of the amazing things about Jim was the he truly “walked the walk”. He traded in comfort and complacency for a life off grid, living without a vehicle and making due with only the barest minimum. And despite his austere life, he never begged for donations, he didn’t monetize his website, and in fact after some time he started posting his books on his own website and giving them away for free. What he wanted most was to share his experiences and philosophy with as many people as he could. Financial reward was never his motivation.
In 2020 Jim and I started corresponding via written letters using snail mail, as he’d “cut the cord” from internet access and had transitioned to a monthly newsletter subscription (which he did at cost – supplies and postage only!). We sent a couple dozen letters back and forth over the months and I got to see a side of him rarely seen in his online work. I found him to be very kind and compassionate. He was very open and curious about life in “civilization” and he spoke very lovingly of his family – both his children and his “NOL” – his shorthand for “New Old Lady”. I felt a true friendship with him.
In May of last year, his monthly installment didn’t arrive. This was unusual, as you could always count on Jim’s timeliness. I didn’t think too much about it – could have been delayed, lost in the mail, who knows. But when June came and I still hadn’t heard from him I got a sick feeling inside that something was wrong. I sent a couple letters which went unanswered, which was also unheard of. I called the two phone numbers I had for him, but both had been disconnected. I queried other Bison fans I knew and none of them had heard from him either. Jim had simply disappeared without a trace and we were all concerned.
In November of last year I received an email from his son, letting me know Jim had shuffled off this mortal coil on May 5, 2022. Unbeknownst to me or evidently any of his other Minions, he’d been suffering from a lifelong condition, which had worsened suddenly and led to his untimely demise.
While I think deep down I already knew he was gone, the confirmation hit me like a brick upside the head.
These days as we have front row seat for the dumpster fire that is present-day America, I can’t help but wonder what Lord Bison would have to say about it. Whatever it was, I’m more than sure it would be tempered with humor. That was one of Jim’s magic abilities, no matter the dire situation he could elicit a laugh.
In hindsight I can’t help but think that Jim knew he was on borrowed time. That would explain the frantic pace at which he produced. He had a lot to say and a short time to say it and I am so glad I was in the right place at the right time AND in the right headspace to receive his work.
Lord Bison, I wish there had been a chance for me to say goodbye. You changed me for the better through your writing, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
Godspeed my friend! I’ll see you on the other side!
James M. Dakin, AKA Lord Bison- author extraordinaire!
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a firm believer in preparedness. I never really looked at being a “prepper” as my identity, it was just something I grew up with. First, my matriarch grandmother was a child of the Great Depression, and I spent a LOT of time with her growing up, so I’m sure that mindset rubbed off over the years. (As did religion, but that’s a story for another day).
Then I spent my adolescence and most of my teen years in Boy Scouts, who’s official motto is ” Be Prepared”. Several years working with my father added to it, as he ALWAYS seemed to have whatever was needed on a jobsite, even when you had no idea you’d need it. So in a way, it feels like preparedness is part of my DNA, even if it isn’t my identity.
After the Y2K scare came and went, I got complacent and I really stopped paying attention to preparedness in a meaningful way, and didn’t really start taking is seriously again until about 2008 or so. The big story of 2008 was the Great Recession of course, which didn’t effect me directly as I was too poor to own a home anyway, but it DID effect my employer at the time, which put the fear of the unknown into me and got me started with ” what will we do if I lose my job?” scenarios.
One thing led to another and I ended up going down a deep, dark rabbit hole regarding preparedness and survival. It became a bit of a hobby I guess you’d say, with me spending lots of time on various websites and forums, trying to learn everything I could about surviving “The End Of The World As We Know It” or TEOTWAWKI, and I’ll tell you, it was enlightening to say the least.
From around 2010 or so, the ” preparedness space” online just exploded! Podcasts, websites, forums, news aggregates with a preparedness slant, YouTube channels, a mountain of books in the topic, “prepping” was everywhere! Even mainstream TV got into the act with “Doomsday Preppers”, which honestly probably did more to damage the idea of preparing more than anything, but the fact that a mainstream media outlet would sink money into such a show just goes to show you how popular the topic had become.
But then a weird thing happened back in 2016. We got ourselves a new President and suddenly folks didn’t seem so worried about TEOTWAWKI. Ok, that’s not entirely true, a ton of people thought his election would be then end of us all, I guess they just weren’t of the preparedness mindset to start with. But I digress…
Anyhow, by 2018 or so, the online preparedness space had been decimated due to lack of interest according to several friends and acquaintances that I knew in that space. Many of the websites I used to follow either quit altogether or they just petered out over a year. The main forum I was on from 2009 til that time had far less interaction and started getting stale and boring. My YouTube feed starting having considerably fewer videos about preparedness. It was as if everyone thought “the danger” (whatever that was to them) was over and done with.
By 2020 the focus had become covid, shortly followed by the “insurrection” (don’t get me started on that load of bovine excrement!) and so on. People were focused on censorship and government over reach and again, the economy. But still, you didn’t hear much about preparedness, other than toilet paper, hand sanitizer and face masks. Oh, and baby formula.
But now here we are in Q2 2023 and suddenly the world of preparedness has once again exploded! A bunch of old faces are showing up again, along with a number of new faces.
Now, I’m not complaining. I think it’s useful and important. What’s disconcerting is there seems to be a touch of urgency bordering on desperation, which is different from the preparedness landscape in days gone by.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand it. In fact I’ve been shoring up my weak spots over the last 2 years. This latest prepper-mania has somewhat confirmed my bias toward preparedness.
I could be wrong, but it certainly feels like something wicked this way comes. And clearly I’m not the only one.
Give it some thinkin’. If everything went sideways tomorrow, can you eat? How about a week from now? Do you have cash on hand in case the banking system blows a gasket and your plastic cards don’t work? Do you have a water supply in the event your municipal supply goes offline? Medicines?
If the last two decades have taught me anything, it’s that relying on others, especially in a dire situation, is something best avoided. You are your own first responder, your own emergency service, your own responsibility. Act accordingly.
I’ve known of James Kunstler for quite a few years now, having been introduced to him by a good friend sometime in the early 00’s. I’ve been a steady reader of his blog site (kunstler.com) for the last couple years too – he puts out very thought provoking articles every Friday. (Highly recommended!) This however, was my first foray into his fictional work and I’m just gonna come right out and say it – I REALLY liked this book. A LOT.
This was, in it’s own way, a post-apocalyptic novel which is pretty much my favorite genre of fiction. But it was so unlike any other post-apoc novel I’ve read in the past, it really doesn’t fit with the others I’ve read. (And there have been MANY!)
The story takes place in upstate New York, where I’ve never been, but he sets the scene so well that I felt like I’d been there. The storyline starts some time after everything has fallen apart, though you never get a specific time frame – whether its a year or five, you never really know. Basically folks are just trying to keep what’s left from falling apart and keep themselves alive. In this small town there are still remnants of a community, but severely diminished. They are living in a post-oil world, no more cars and trucks, no trains, no industry. Even bicycles are rare because rubber tires aren’t being made and the old ones are failing. Roads still exist, but hadn’t been maintained so even if there were autos, the roads would beat them to death. Electricity is almost non-existent and eventually quits altogether. For all intents and purposes, Government is gone though rumors persist of a President and a new Capital in the midwest. (Minnesota if I recall…) In a lot of ways it’s like they’re living in the 1800’s.
The protagonist is a quiet, calm man. He was a tech executive in the BEFORE, but scratches out a living as the town’s carpenter and plays the fiddle in the town’s musical group. We learn that he’d lost both his wife and his daughter during the troubled times, though you don’t really get much background on his life before the time of this story. He also has a teenaged son that “headed out into the world” some time previous, and he has no idea whether his son is still alive or where he might be. I found him to be pretty likeable and relatable, not like the uber-prepped, former military hotshots that are usually the focus of the post-apoc genre.
A couple things hit right up front – a strange new group of religious folks arrive in town, having purchased the former high school for their new Church and living quarters. There is a murder. The widow of the murdered man has her house burn to the ground. A group of men taking trade goods by river go missing… For a quiet little burg in upstate NY, a lot is happening!
I don’t want to spoil anything with additional details, I will just say this was a great book.
The story was compelling. The characters were realistic. The writing was superb. I couldn’t wait to get back to it every night and I was almost sad to see it finished!
I purchased the book out of curiosity, frankly not expecting much. In my experience non-fiction writers are horrible at fiction, and vice-versa. Well, Mr. Kunstler may just be the exception to the rule! This is one that will be staying in my library, as I know without doubt I will want to read it again.
There are a couple sequels to this story, and I’m happy to say I’ve started the second one as of last night. I hope it holds up to the first.
Well done Mr. Kunstler! Thank you for a great piece of work!! I look forward to the rest of the installments!
Not much to talk about these days. Not without going off the rails like a loon, that is.
Work has been a drag. Not cuz it’s slow, quite the opposite. No time to reflect or plan, everything is currently “reactionary” because so much is hitting the fan simultaneously. Amongst other things, our company was hit with a “cyber attack” and 6 weeks later we STILL are using workarounds just try to keep everything from going off the rails. The residents are cranky and the staff is worn out. The last month whipped by in a flash, but I feel like it’s been non-stop hamster wheel running…no destination in sight, just go, go, go! Then go do it again tomorrow. Then the next day. And so on and so on…
Music has been slower than slow, and I’m struggling to find kindred souls to play with. This makes it kinda boring, which in turn has me making excuses for not going to the studio (as my bank account slowly dwindles to nothing) and thinking I may shut it down here shortly.
Right now I’m trying to avoid “current events” and the news in general. The level of stupid is off the charts from everything I’m seeing, and most of it just makes my blood boil. Since I’m in control of approximately 0.0000000000% of what is going on in the world, and can do about as much to change it, there is no point in me spending my time getting aggravated over it all.
You’d think you’d get used to being surrounded by crazy people and their insanity, but no… The crazy is perpetual, and yet I’m constantly shocked by the latest version that comes across the interwebs on a daily basis.
The “fun” part of life has been particularly lean lately as well. We had tickets to one show this month, but then ran into schedule issues with an event at the Mrs.’ school (plus mental exhaustion on my part) and just passed on the whole thing.
On the bright side, Spring is here! After the nearly non-stop, newsworthy winter storms we had in California this year, I’m happy for a little sunshine. I’m trying to get enough of a boost from the change in the weather to be inspired to get back to seriousness at the gym so surfing can happen. The water is currently only about 49/50 degrees – which I’ve surfed before, cuz I’m a sucker for punishment – so I’m ok with waiting for a bit better conditions. I surf for fun and for relaxing, bobbing around like an ice cube is neither. Nonetheless, I’m starting to feel a strong pull to get in the ocean.
Soon. Not now, but soon!
So there you have it, the truly boring life of The Boring Old Man on full display…
Hoping May will bring better spirits, and better living. We’ve got two concerts to attend, Mother’s Day is around the corner, beach days are a distinct possibility and it’s a lot easier to drag my butt to the gym when it’s not 35 degrees outside! I’m close to done with another book I’ll have to blab about, got a new record to review whenever I get the opportunity to sit down uninterrupted to listen to it…things are happening in the background, just nothing I felt compelled to put down here.
Generally speaking I’m an optimist, but my optimism tank has been on empty lately, hence my lack of posting. I just thought I’d put this out there so this blog doesn’t turn into another thing I stop caring about.
I’m still struggling to stop the carousel of disbelief in my head, trying to make sense of where “civilization” is headed. At my core I’m an optimist, but WOW! It’s like the world has collectively lost it’s mind…
I wish my father had this talk with me…Without OUR consent, the gov’t ONLY has force as an option.I do not consent. These jackals do not represent me or anyone I know.And slandered, ruined, cancelled…Something they will NEVER teach you in government schools.Why isn’t this common knowledge? Clearly our “leaders” didn’t get the memo.Don’t believe it? Compare the US covid lockdowns to the lockdowns in Australia. Maybe violence isn’t the answer. Until all other options have been exhausted that is. Evil doesn’t simply go away.I’m not a twit, so I don’t really know if Twitter is still working fine, but I know without doubt that the government ISN’T. I say that gov’t employee reduction is a good place to start. Yes, I’m angry. But if I were a vet, I’d be seething about now.It’s always darkest before the dawn, they say…
This was another “by chance” read by an author previously unknown to me.
It was an unusual story, which I appreciated. The subtitle of the book being “a story from America’s divorce”, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I can tell you it turned out to be nothing at all like I thought it would be.
The basic premise is that a wounded and now discharged former U.S. Marine and his computer programmer neighbor meet up and build a drone together, a miniaturized version of a military plane. Initially they use this drone to assist a militia group that is fighting a battle with a south-of-the-border cartel.
During the course of the story, California, Washington and half of Oregon secede from the U.S., and Chinese forces try to move in to “help” and protect the newly seceded states, the s-o-t-b cartels are fighting each other so as to gain territory control up the west coast, Texas withdraws from the U.S. to once again restore the Republic of Texas, federal interests play both sides against each other, and more. It is a pretty wild ride and I was drawn in pretty quickly.
Overall, I will state that I strongly liked the story. There was enough character development that I felt I had a good “feel” of the characters and it made the story all the more believable. The twists and turns of the story itself were enough to keep me coming back for more. Action, adventure, intrigue – all present and accounted for.
As for my personal “gripes” about the book? Not many. Primarily, the writer needed to engage an editor. I was kinda irked at first by this – the wrong word here or there, weird punctuation… but honestly once I got hooked into the story (which didn’t take long), I was less bothered by it. Nonetheless, it kinda had the feel of a rough draft. Don’t get me wrong, those kind of mistakes are EASY to miss when you’ve read something you’ve written, especially by the 10th pass through. But if it were ME, and I was going to self publish a book that was going to be in print, I’d go the extra step of having an outside editor proof the thing before it went to the printer. I realize this is nit-picking, but this is simply my honest assessment. That being said, kudos to the author for writing and self publishing! We need more, many more, authors putting their work out on their own without the “direction” (read: censorship) of the major league publishing houses.
My only other gripe is that the writer got a little too “in the weeds” with details – both in the flight action scenes but also (especially) in the technical aspects of the building of the drone(s). Now, if you’re a “plane guy” and know the terminology used, or a pilot that has had to execute maneuvers, maybe those parts will read easier to you. In my case I found myself re-reading several passages just trying to make sense of it in my own head with NO experience whatsoever with planes or flying. Honestly I felt a little dumb at times, as the technical material was over my head.
Lastly, the ending was a little anticlimactic, but it left a great set-up for a sequel.
All in all, I very much enjoyed the book. There was a lot of hidden philosophy tucked in there that made you think, but also just interesting characters and a lot of excitement. I will absolutely read the sequel when/if it drops, and I will certainly keep an eye on the author for more work in the future. His style is really different, or I should say his perspective is very different from the mainstream while at the same time he doesn’t veer off into the sheer foaming-at-the-mouth anti- government crap that so many dystopian/post-apoc writers do. Which also reminds me, I really appreciated the authors “reality” of the USA in this book. So many these days are so off the rails and unbelievable, this was a great change of pace. Yes, in the story the country is most definitely falling apart, but it’s still in tact enough to be somewhat realistic. Kinda like real life…
Anyhow, without getting spoilers involved, that’s all I’ve got to say on the subject.
Bottom line, I enjoyed the book a great deal in spite of its minor flaws and I’m looking forward to the sequel. Would recommend! Well done Mr. Maynard!
I’ve been a little quiet lately and “off my game”, feeling out of sorts and spending a lot of energy just trying not to get sucked into the vortex of darkness and doom…
It’s nothing I can put my finger on. It’s the overwhelming sense of being pummeled with bad news, destruction, lies and sheer madness. I cannot continue to believe what we see around us (and what /they/ continue to justify, excuse or simply bury if the other two options aren’t viable) is due to ineptitude. It’s too much, too often, too coincidental. But if it’s NOT ineptitude, what does THAT mean? Honestly, I can’t wrap my head around what is going on in the world right now. It appears to be a race to the bottom, and the good ol’ USA is leading the pack!
I made a promise to myself when I started this blog that I wouldn’t let it go down the path of doom and gloom, that I’d do my best to keep things positive or at least neutral. Since lately I didn’t think I could do that, I’ve simply been keeping my big yap shut. That being said, I figured I’d just share a few memes that struck a chord with me lately.
Here’s to better days ahead!
I’ll be back before long. Just gotta get out of my head for a bit (or maybe get fitted for a tin foil hat!?!). A book review is in the works, concerts on the horizon and other assorted stuff. No travel ’til Autumn due to tightly squeezed budgets, but it is almost surfing “season”, so if nothing else some beach time is right around the corner.
In the meantime, focus on food, water, shelter, medicinal needs, and a means of protection. The LAST thing anybody needs is to become reliant on this Clown Show commonly known as “government”. They do NOT have your best interests at heart. That is YOUR job.
Keep your chins up folks, sanity certainly MUST return at some point…
The Boring Old Man 