The Black Pawn and the White Queen

Today I'm faced with a dilemma. Can I still be an entertainment blog whilst also bringing up the soft executive coup that's given a 70 year old child emperor veto power? Maybe! Let's find out.

Spy thrillers are some of my favorite stories and lord knows the Iraq war era had nothing for that genre. They're about massive nations pulling off invisible, yet devastating, plots against one another. That's something terrorist cells could never provide. Finesse.

It's been a generation since America has been threatened by a nation that's got it's sh*t together and I think a hell of a lot of these recent events are part of a successful Russian op. A sitting republican president that praises the Russian leader is nuts. That is f%$king NUTS. It's the only talking point he has ever been consistent on. It would be more ridiculous if Russia didn't have sh*t on Trump at this point.

So going from the idea that Trump is compromised... how did that happen? We may never have the real story but we can speculate. What we fill the blanks in with may never be the whole truth, but I'd settle for some weak tea just to get my heart rate lower. I think I've found that tea.

An anonymous blogger spun one hell of a yarn on the 17th. It could be bull but it can't all be bull. I've been a political junkie since I had an hour long free period in 5th grade to devour the library's periodical rack. I haven't seen bi-partisan criticism of Russia in my life time and you best believe my John le Carre loving butt was looking for it. Sh*t is going down and this may be the answer. Even if it isn't, it's still one hell of a thriller:

 

patribotics.

 

How do you do that?

The real tragedy is that he never got a chance to be the greatest grandpa who ever walked the earth.

This... Hurts.

Sir John Hurt has left us and I'm... pretty crushed. There's simply no one waiting in the wings that could make dialogue sing the way he could. He had a marvelously articulate rage, no surprise to anyone who saw V for Vendetta, which is actually an excellent companion piece to his work in 1984. It was the little things I always admired most about him. In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (still on netflix and well worth your time) he's a spymaster who ends up getting played by a mole and in the scene where the inner circle ousts him he shreds the line "I should have left you WHERE I FOUND YOU." That shouldn't be my favorite moment in the movie but through sheer force of will he made me love it.

My condolences to his friends and family. I'm going to miss him terribly.

C and C episode 56!

Chamberlain and Chance - Never good enough

This isn't gonna steal my joy.

Man, I've had a corker of a sh**y week. I worked 5 double shifts in a row, 2 of them nightmares. Then I tried to get Resident Evil 7 up and running on my first day off after 51 work hours and my top of the line rig shuts it down before the title screen.

No. I'm gonna get mine this weekend. I've been lost in ps2 emulator land for over a month and I need my AAA game itch scratched. What can I do? What's $20 off  on green man gaming that was... faintly praised by my podcast buddies?

Hmmm. What to do, what to dooooooo?

Come to think of it, wolf eye sockets are perfect for belt loops.

Oh, what in the screaming bloody F&*K Capcom?!!

I love PC gaming to tears, but there are times that all the money and effort spent trying to get the damn things to work won't pay off. Resident Evil 7 is one of those times. I've had games run badly, I've had games crash randomly, but never have I EVER played a game that wouldn't even let me see the title screen.

Thank Christ the steam refund policy is in place, I would be so much more angry if I had to wait a week or two just to be able to fiddle with the graphics options. The last game I refunded was Arkham Knight and I at least got to play the damn game first.

So I'd love to tell you how good RESI 7 is. After it's knocked down at least $30.

What the inside of my head sounds like right now.

Roosevelt's theme from Civ VI has been echoing through my brain for weeks now. It's been oddly comforting to me so here it is, just in case one or two of ya'll out there need it too.

But lord knows I can't keep my happy face on forever and it's only a matter of time before that tune devolves into... something else.

2017's gonna be fascinating. I hope we make it.