Wednesday, June 28, 2017

The Way You Communicate Does Matter

I read a lot of social media all day long. I prefer Twitter, but I find myself spending too much time on Facebook every day. With Twitter, it is understandable why people write in code and create some serious atrocities against the English language. But on Facebook, there is no excuse for people who consistently spell words wrong, cannot put one complete sentence together, and use all caps without realizing how annoying that is. Instead of just accepting people who post like this (as they all say we should - "I'll spel hwever I wante!") and accepting their notion that it doesn't matter how their posts look as long as their information gets across, I decided to do some research. The results were interesting.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Literally the Best Reviews: Arkwright

Arkwright -- Allen Steele
Tor Books
337 Pages

When I first started reading to books from upstairs at the Lockport Library, I found myself gravitating towards the books in the science-fiction genre. I tried them all, from sci-fi with some magic, to full-on magical fantasy, and hard science fiction. It was the masters, Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, and Haldeman who captured most of my attention. Since then, I’ve tried to find today’s best writers of that particular brand of science fiction.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Living With Kids (Episode 8) - The Drive-In

"But I wanna go wif you to the movies, Bapa!"

Ok, so that is all it really takes for me to be convinced that a night at the drive-in with just me and my four-year-old is a good idea. He and I have done this several times before, but as he gets a little older the drive-in nights change ever so slightly. For example, he is potty trained now and is almost militant about using the potty. Unlike his Bapa, who can hold it until the movie is over, the little guy wants to go when he wants to go. We are encouraging him to do so, which means multiple trips to the bathroom during the movie. Buying him a medium Sprite to have during the film does not help either.

Looking At Movies - Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

The latest Transformers chapter from Michael Boom! 'Splosions! Bay is called Transformers: The Last Knight, and it is not the worst Transformers movie Bay has ever made. Some people would say that the studio is taking a chance giving Bay a $260 million budget to make this movie, but even the worst Transformers movies have eclipsed that box office mark several times over. One of the big issues with this movie is that it feels like the box office was the motivation as, once again, Bay is simply incapable of telling a good story.

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Old Fort Niagara French & Indian War Encampment July 1-3

Old Fort Niagara is getting ready to let visitors get their hands dirty at this year’s French and Indian War Encampment, July 1-3, on the very soil where French, British and Native soldiers dirtied their hands in July 1759.

As hundreds of staff, volunteers and re-enactors come together to stage the dramatic siege of the French Fort Niagara by the British, the public will have access to hands-on activities, demonstrations and special tours.

REMINISCING: Side By Side

I’ve been meaning to write this article for a couple of weeks now. I’ve spent several days thinking it out in my head, but never got a chance to put it on paper. Things kept getting in the way. Then I had the bright idea of posting a story about old houses and I spent the last two days fielding questions. (Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I was not prepared for the onslaught of questions. For the most part, it was a lot of fun.) So finally, I am just sitting down to write this on Sunday morning.

Friday, June 23, 2017

On the Historical Trail: Lockport's Oldest Houses

Where are the oldest houses in Lockport? When the path of the canal over the escarpment was finally determined in 1820, land speculators scrambled to obtain the finest properties near the excavation line. The first structures were temporary, but soon, more permanent edifices rose from the landscape.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Stop The World I Want To ... Never Mind ... I'll Just Jump

I'm not a religious guy at all, which is why sayings such as "God only gives you as much as you can handle" mean nothing to me. Actually, it is life experience that allows me to disregard the emotional crutch that is religion and come face to face with my own limitations. As Clint Eastwood is famous for saying, every man has got to know his limitations. Mine have been exceeded, but there are no options. There is no time-out in life, and there is no way to freeze the clock so we can catch our breath. So what do we do when it becomes too much?

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

On the Homefront: Make a Teacher's Day & It Will Make Yours

I called one of my sixth-grade teachers Friday morning....
***
Maniac Magee's favorite food is one detail I will always remember. It was ingrained in my mind in an embarrassing moment 25 springs ago. Because of that moment, I have never forgotten that Jerry Spinelli's fictional hero loved butterscotch krimpets.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Looking At Movies - Cars 3 (2017)

I'm reviewing this movie as a Pixar film because that is essentially what it is. Disney puts some money into Pixar films and then puts their stamp on it, but Pixar is the creative force behind their own movies. I love Pixar's work, so that is why I continue to see the company's movies.

As someone who is an avid follower of Pixar, I have seen the first two cars movies and can tell you that Cars 2 was terrible. As lovable as the character may be, no one cares what happens to Mater for an entire movie. In Cars 3, the focus is back on Lightning McQueen and the story is going to look really familiar to anyone who is a fan of the original Cars. The twist at the end is kind of fun, but overall this one of Pixar's least creative productions.

Craig Bacon Has a Plan

It’s been one of those weeks where my schedule has been completely thrown off. It generally happens this time of year with dance recitals, half days of school, and the school year wrap up. So, what does all this mean? It means my writing schedule is way out of whack. What we end up with is a week without a lot of columns from me. And I’m not sure what is going on with George, but with his illness, I don’t question it. Plus he occasionally surprises me with a bunch of movie reviews.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Looking At Movies (Special Edition) - Get Out (2017)

It had gotten to the point that I had heard so much about Get Out that I felt I was missing out on something if I didn't see it. This movie is definitely a slow burn, but it is a clever film once it gets moving. Writer and director Jordan Peele (yes, of Key and Peele fame) did his best to disguise where the movie was headed for as long as he could, and when it all started to fall together it did so with such geometrically perfect pieces that this movie has to be considered a potential classic that will last for generations.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Thinking Out Loud: Fun Degrees of Separation

What follows is me trying to be creative. Throughout my career, I've dabbled in something like this as a professional twice. Once, I rewrote The Who's Pinball Wizard and made it all about the weather. Another time, I changed the words to Let It Go from Disney's Frozen to complain about how often it was on at my house when it came out.

Well, as I mentioned earlier this week, I took my daughter to go see Wonder Woman. There was an actor in the movie who connects Wonder Woman from the DC Universe to the Marvel Universe and the Star Trek Universe and the Star Wars Universe. So, here goes nothing...

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Howie Balaban: Thinking Out Loud: Avoiding Widespread Panic

For the record, I am beginning to write this hot take of a column at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. About 6 hours ago, the automated call system used by the Medina Central School District called my house and my cell phone to alert me (and every other district parent) that the district had been put on lockdown as a precautionary measure.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Greetings From 19 Year Old Craig Bacon

I was searching through a box in the attic Monday morning when I stumbled across all my writing from my college classes. I took a lot of creative writing courses and other English classes so there is a pretty big file of writing. There are poems, fictional essays, literature reviews, and other ramblings of a smart-ass college mind.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

REMINISCING: Go Climb a Tree

On the Monday of Memorial Day, we took the kids for a ride to the cemeteries in Medina and Lyndonville where we have family members buried. You probably read about that adventure already. If you haven’t, or you would like to revisit, you can read about that day HERE. In the meantime, this is my fiftieth Reminiscing article. Originally I had something planned for this occasion, but the trip to Lyndonville changed my focus.

Rest In Peace, Batman

I grew up in the late 60s and early 70s, which means that I was one of those fortunate people who got to listen to the best music and watch the best television shows ever made. Emergency!, Fantasy Island, and Batman were some great television, and I rarely ever missed an episode. The list of iconic 70s television shows is a long one, but at the top of that list sits Batman - for me and millions of others who grew up during that period. On Saturday, the Batcave closed for good when Adam West, the real Batman, passed away.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Quick Thoughts of Bacon Vol 9

I love hockey. I try to watch as much as I can. While I think the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best in postseason professional sports, I really have no pony in this race. I couldn’t care less about either the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Nashville Predators. I just want to see a well played series followed by Lord Stanley’s Cup being skated around one of their respective arenas. However, what I’ve seen so far has been less than stellar, especially by the NHL, the officiating, and a bloviating Mike Milbury.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Special Movie Review: Long Strange Trip

I know it’s Tuesday and that generally means that there will be a book review coming from me. Yesterday was Monday, which meant that George gave you all a movie review. I’ve decided to throw a big, ol’ wrench into the whole works by giving you a Craig Bacon movie review on book review Tuesday. Yes, I know it’s weird, but if you’ve been one of our loyal readers over the past year, you know we’re all about weird.

Monday, June 5, 2017

Looking At Movies - Captain Underpants (2017)

There is not a whole lot that is innovative or groundbreaking about Captain Underpants, but it is definitely different. For one thing, it is actually a cartoon. It cares not about giving a 3D look using shading and however else they do it. It is just a good old fashioned cartoon that also includes a sock puppet show, pictures of real animals among the drawn images, and more low-brow humor than you can shake a stick at. The thing is that this movie knows it is using low-brow humor, it makes no apologies for it, and it still winds up being one very funny movie.

Yes London, The World Is Losing Its Mind

It looks like the coward brigade known as "terrorists" are focusing a lot of their attention lately on London. At first I thought all of Europe was in for a long battle with these cowards, but it looks like the focus will be London. Why? As Americans, we tend to forget that there are radical cowards all over the world and not just here. Religious tension between opposing groups has been a problem in France for decades that is now, of course, getting worse. So is the world losing its mind? It sure looks that way. But maybe the answer to these problems is as close as your own mirror.

Saturday, June 3, 2017

These Old Walkin' Shoes: The Cemetery Angels

The Monday of Memorial Day weekend, Wendy and I took the girls out for the day. We thought we’d give them a chance to visit with their great-grandparents, and take some time out of our busy lives to visit the cemeteries where various family members are buried. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the right time.