Saving Private Ryan on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

Saving Private Ryan on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

Posted inFilms, Random Musings
Watched Saving Private Ryan in honor of the 70th anniversary of D-Day yesterday. I still remember when I first saw this in the theater. I live in a retirement area with a huge senior population.When we went to see this the theater was full, and it was a sea of white heads in every aisle. My wife and I were some of the only young people there. It was harrowing. That opening sequence, no one had ever done anything like it before. For 20 minutes you're assaulted with graphic violence and noise and fury that relentlessly pounded your senses. By the end of the sequence, you were out…
m2 – we finally made it (2014)

m2 – we finally made it (2014)

Posted inMusic, Works by Eric
I have a big backlog of music right now. Just haven't had the time or inspiration or whatever to "release" it. Not because I don't feel like it's worthy. Hell, I've been dying to get some of this out there! I've just had stuff going on. Managed to muster up the energy for one here, though. This one is unofficially dedicated to my buddy Cary, a great writer you haven't heard of yet but will soon enough. Recorded this by accident, listened, liked, refined, and the end result is the longest single piece I've ever done. For me, at least,…

Why Nirvana Was Important (To Me)

Posted inMusic, Random Musings
There is a segment of music fandom that say Nirvana is overrated. They're probably not wrong. The band got catapulted into sainthood on the strength of a small catalog, albeit a pretty great one, and a metric ton of media hype. Their status as deities is perhaps overblown, even if they were briefly great. Still, some among the naysayers also say they don't get why people connected with Cobain. They say his lyrics were mostly strung together nonsense (true) and his songs were simple rips on Pixies and Beatles melodies (also true). So why the hell did anyone connect with…
The Trick to Writing Great Conversations

The Trick to Writing Great Conversations

Posted inWriting
The trick to writing great conversations is dear god how the hell am I supposed to know? Who COULD know? Seriously, do you understand how hard it is to pen dialogue that sounds real and natural but that also gets across the information you need to get across? 'Cause that's the thing, really. In a book or a short story or comic or whatever, dialogue isn't merely people talking. It has to get across information. That information may be characterization or character history or plot details or exposition or mood or a million other things, but the point is that…
Breaking Down Breaking Bad

This book about Breaking Bad is out.

Posted inTelevision, Works by Eric, Writing
So hey, check it out. Breaking Down Breaking Bad: Unpeeling the Layers of Television's Greatest Drama is available for purchase and stuff. It's from me, so that's kind of cool. It's available for Kindle and Kindle-friendly devices such as iPads and iPhones, as well as in a print edition. It's totally affordable, too. Impulse buy! This book began as a germ of an idea about a year or so ago, but it wasn't an idea I took very seriously at first. Too much on my plate at the time, dealing with too many other things, juggling too many other projects.…