Writer/reviewer of books, TV series, movies, and more. If it's got a narrative, I want to write about it.
Articles by Ryan Carter
'I Can't Go to Sleep': Wu-Tang Clan on JFK's Murder
In 2000, the New York music collective Wu-Tang Clan released its third studio album, “The W,”which includes guest appearances from other music icons such as Isaac Hayes, Redman, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and Junior Reid. The widely influential and acclaimed group that emerged from Staten Island in the early ‘90s is known for its sharp lyrics and gritty production, imbuing its music with the ethos of Five-Percent Muslim teachings and expressing the strife of the Black experience.
Rose Parade 2025: How the Tournament of Roses Got its Theme
Here are three words you might hear or see quite a bit in Pasadena in the coming weeks, including on Jan. 1, when the Tournament of Roses begins: “Best Day Ever!” Every float. Every band. Every performance in the coming extravaganza along the 5.5-mile route has been designed with the theme in mind. But where did it come from? What’s the meaning behind it? To read the rest of the story, please go to: Pasadena Star
JFK Whistleblower: 'A Blueprint for How to Deceive the Public'
Jefferson Morley talks with Rising about a government whistleblower who witnessed unreleased JFK Assassination documents in a secure CIA facility that indicated that the CIA intended to deceive the public. Despite the mandate of the 1992 JFK Records Act “there are still sensitive documents related to the JFK Assassination that are still out of public v… Keep reading with a 7-day free trial Subscribe to JFK Facts to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
Mortal Men: Kendrick Lamar Goes Deep on Lessons of the Assassinations
The legacy of JFK’s assassination still continues to inspire new generations of musical artists, including Kendrick Lamar, who will headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, a gig reserved for superstars only. Lamar's 2015 Grammy-winning album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” concludes with the track "Mortal Man," which encapsulates the album’s themes of black oppression, individual struggle in a racist system, and rising above it all.
The Ultimate JFK Assassination Playlist
JFKFacts has created a comprehensive 14 hour JFK Assassination Songs Spotify playlist based on a list of music compiled by TurnMeOnDeadMan.com. The assassination of John F. Kennedy, has inspired artists in every decade and across a dizzying array of genres. The songs range from deeply solemn, such as 18 different versions of "Abraham, Martin, and John," featured, to morbid, inane and irreverent, such as "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave" by the Butthole Surfers.
Identification of Lactuca sativa transcription factors impacting resistance to Botrytis cinerea through predictive network inference
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WWW Wednesday - May 3, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I’m coming up on the last 100 pages of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, and I’m really wanting to get this book over with.
The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is simple yet fun, as all I had to do was grab 10 books randomly from my shelf. I have a lot of books scattered around, however, so some of them were taken from the back of my actual bookshelf and others were taken from the stacks of books on the table next to my desk. I can’t help but fret a little that my selection doesn’t feel as random as it should, but in the spirit of things I kept it as they were selected.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (April 2023)
Well, it’s finally happened. Though I actually wound up buying a fair number of books this month, what I’m stuck on is the fact that I actually forgot to include a few new books last month, one of which having been a rather big deal for me. Goodness knows how I forgot about it. I almost forgot another book today too; I think I really ought to cool down on the book purchases next month. We’ll see if I actually do that.
WWW Wednesday - April 19, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
WWW Wednesday - April 12, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Book Review - Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss
Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein is a 2018 nonfiction comedy memoir detailing the author’s lifetime of experiences as the longest-serving writer and producer on the iconic American cartoon series The Simpsons.
WWW Wednesday - April 5, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I’m still chipping away at American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; I haven’t made crazy progress, but it feels surprisingly steady considering the content of the novel thus far.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (March 2023)
I don’t know what happened this month, but I went absolutely nuts with buying books. At least, that’s how it feels; maybe it’s not all that much compared to some other months, but it’s certainly a lot more than normal. For the most part, these were thrift store purchases, so at least I didn’t go over the top with buying books at full price. I just happened to find myself at thrift stores with my friends a lot this month, and for some reason each time there was one or several books worth picking up.
WWW Wednesday - March 29, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
WWW Wednesday - March 22, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I’ve finally started reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, though I’ve only gotten about 30 pages in so far, covering two chapters, which is at least enough to make a distinct impression.
Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a TTT rewind, where we can pick a previous topic that we missed, so I decided I’d like to put together a list of books that fit all three of the criteria in the title. I imagine I could have picked one of the three, but I’d rather take advantage of the more broad approach. I’m not sure how to feel about how many series I’ve actually got lined up, but it’ll be nice to put them all together in one place.
WWW Wednesday - March 8, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made with Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss since last week. I’m quite close to finishing it and might possibly be done with it by next week.
Book Review - Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
Wolf in White Van is a 2014 fiction novel by John Darnielle, American musician and primary member of the band the Mountain Goats. The story follows Sean Phillips, a reclusive game designer whose face has been disfigured ever since suffering a gunshot wound when he was 17. His games are play-by-mail role-playing games, exploring post-apocalyptic futures and fantastical realms.
WWW Wednesday - March 1, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I’m still reading Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss, and I’m continuing to enjoy it a lot.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (February 2023)
Once again, I find myself wracking my brain about what I’ve purchased this month. I could have sworn that some book or other had been preordered a while ago and it arrived earlier this month. Apparently that is not the case, as I’ve picked through the books lying around and found nothing. Nevertheless, it has been another rather big month, though unique at the same time, as I usually don’t buy a lot of one series at once.
WWW Wednesday - February 22, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Since last week I’ve managed to make a pretty decent start at Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss, which tells the author’s history and experiences working on The Simpsons for over 30 years.
WWW Wednesday - February 15, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Nothing! I’m actually between books at the moment. Go me. Recently Finished I managed to have some good reading time this weekend, and I used it to finish Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle.
WWW Wednesday - February 8, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I did not end up posting last week because, due to a deeply unfortunate turn of events that came out of nowhere, I literally did zero reading. Utterly scandalous.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (January 2023)
It seems with the start of the new year that I wanted to make up for the past couple of light months, as I’ve acquired more books than the previous two months combined. I haven’t gone crazy with the purchasing mind you, but it’s notably more all the same. I suppose with the holidays having passed finally, I decided it was time to let go of the holiday restraint and buy a little more for myself again. I hope the new year has treated everybody well and the weather hasn’t been too miserable.
Book Review - Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by Stephen King. The story follows the Creed family—husband and wife Louis and Rachel, their five-year-old daughter Ellie, two-year-old son Gage, and Ellie’s cat named Church—who have just moved from Chicago to an idyllic country house near the small town of Ludlow, Maine, with Louis starting a new job as a physician at the University of Maine.
WWW Wednesday - January 25, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I was hoping I’d have made more progress with Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle since last week, but work comes first, so I did not end up having as much reading time as I was anticipating.
WWW Wednesday - January 18, 2023
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Finally I’m posting one of these in 2023 (albeit quite late in the day).
Looking Back at 2022 & New Challenges for 2023
I’ve admittedly been very unmotivated to put this post together, though it’s actually no later than its equivalent last year. For me, 2022 was a bit of a dud as far as reading goals go. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, my freelance job has made getting reading done a lot harder, more so than I thought it would, and this was felt all throughout the year. By no means would I spurn a job I find to be worthwhile for a hobby, but it gets you down all the same.
Top 5 Books I Read in 2022
Transitioning to a new year of reading has been going slowly, as it turns out. I’m still trying to finish up my final read from last year (a fact that will keep bothering me at least a little bit), so I haven’t even given myself the chance to start reading anything new for 2023. As my editing workload increased after the end of 2021, I managed to have less and less time to read throughout the year, so I actually read an even smaller number of books than I was expecting.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (December 2022)
This was another surprisingly quiet month as far as new books go. As it turns out, I didn’t receive any gift cards for books for Christmas this year. It’s fine, I still really appreciate all that I did receive, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little sad that I won’t be going on a small book-buying binge.
WWW Wednesday - December 28, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Last week I was absent from making one of these posts, as I was celebrating an early Christmas out of town with my family, though I don’t believe I had made much progress on anything to have had much to say anyway.
WWW Wednesday - December 14, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Nothing to update here this week. Recently Finished A couple of days ago I managed to finish reading Tracking the Chupacabra by Benjamin Radford.
Books on My Winter 2022-2023 To-Read List
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. I always like topics like this for these posts because it’s a great way to get thinking about what I feel like reading, not just what I may have laid out ages beforehand. This is especially considering a new year coming up, with presumably new personal reading challenges to be had that I haven’t really thought about yet.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout Recipe
Ingredients for 6 Gallons: 14.25 lb (6.5 kg) Two-row 1.25 lb (0.6 kg) Flaked Oats 0.75 lb (0.3 kg) Munich 0.75 lb (0.3 kg) Chocolate 0.75 lb (0.3 kg) Carafa II 0.38 lb (0.3 kg) Roasted Barley 1 lb (0.5 kg) Lactose Imperial’s Darkness (at least 2 packets or a starter) 1.25 oz (35 g) Warrior Hops 52g Pasilla chile peppers (chopped) Batch Details: Batch size: 6 gallons (22.7 liter) Original gravity: 1.086 SG (20.7°P) Final gravity: 1.026 SG (6.6°P) ABV: 8.3% (including tincture) IBU: 45 Brewing...
How To Wax Seal Beer Bottles
One down, 8,000 to go. Just kidding. What’s up everyone? I just finished bottling my imperial stout and now I’m going to dip the bottles in wax. How To Wax Seal Beer Bottles: What You Need The first thing that you’re going to need is some wax, and it looks like this. They’re just small little pieces of wax. The next item you’ll need is a wax warmer. I like to use this quarter inch filament tape. It’s just fiberglass reinforced tape, but you can use fishing line or wire to do the same thing.
WWW Wednesday - December 7, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I’ve managed to make some more decent progress in Tracking the Chupacabra by Benjamin Radford since last week.
WWW Wednesday - November 30, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I am ashamed to say I’ve still kept my streak going with neglecting A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris. I have to finish it before the end of the year or I will lose my mind, though, so it’s getting done one way or another.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (November 2022)
Well, the daylight has become more and more scarce once again, and the holidays are just over the horizon. November feels so much like a liminal month for me sometimes, being a void of time between the holidays (at least here in Canada) and feeling more subdued as the weather transitions to darker and colder. Somewhat in keeping with that all that, it has been a considerably low-key month for me as far as book buying goes too, but I did manage to pick a little something up for myself anyway.
WWW Wednesday - November 23, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading I managed to get a nice modest start on Tracking the Chupacabra by Benjamin Radford finally, though regrettably I didn’t get to any of A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris as well.
Books I’m Thankful that School Had Me Read
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a “thankful freebie”, which I presume is because American Thanksgiving is this week. I’m Canadian, so Thanksgiving was back in October for me, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to put together a list of books I’m thankful for. To make the list a little more considered, I decided to provide a list of ten books I’m grateful for having to read in school.
WWW Wednesday - November 16, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Nothing really to report on this front again this week, though it’s because I’ve actually managed to get yet another book finished. I will hopefully start reading more of A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris again soon.
WWW Wednesday - November 9, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Nothing at the moment. Technically, I’m still in the middle of both The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers and A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris, but I still haven’t made any further progress with either yet.
First Impressions: The Denim Devil #1 by Zach Carter and Jared Yanez
Excerpt from the press release: Though there are a number of great examples that come to mind, horror and comedy can be tricky to mash up. Ideally, you would want a scenario where it feels safe to laugh when appropriate, without the threat of the actual horror being completely diffused. Make it too funny, and you’re not scared anymore. Make it too scary, and the jokes feel out of place.
WWW Wednesday - November 2, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading A Carnival of Snackery is still shelved for the time being, but I’m hoping to pick it back up again soon. Since last week I finished the first story in The King in Yellow by Robert W.
New Books & Novel Discoveries (October 2022)
No unfortunate happenings got in the way of me posting this on time in October, I just wanted to indulge in Halloween, so I didn’t set aside the time to work on it. October was a strange month, as it was so eventful that it didn’t just fly by, but I also find myself marveling at how little I was able to finish doing with respect to the blog. Work has continued to be a lot busier than normal.
WWW Wednesday - October 26, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading For the time being, A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris is still shelved. I’m still in the midst of Pet Sematary by Stephen King.
WWW Wednesday - October 19, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Pardon the brief hiatus from last week, I was out of town until late into the week visiting family for my birthday and Canadian Thanksgiving.
Book Review - The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
The Dark Lord of Derkholm is a 1998 young adult fantasy novel by author Diana Wynne Jones. Once a year, a magical fantasy land receives guests from another world. These guests, whom visit as Pilgrim Parties under the organization of a ruthless businessman named Mr. Chesney, embark upon this journey to experience a real-life fantasy adventure, complete with dragons, battles between the forces of good and evil, and even a Dark Lord to vanquish at the end of their hard-fought quest.
WWW Wednesday - October 5, 2022
WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Currently Reading Unfortunately, I’ve not made any progress in A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris. I’ve been emotionally compromised due to the loss of a pet so I just didn’t make time for it.
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