Dave G
@nextwave.bsky.social
I write, edit, run, teach, play chess, and think — but seldom more than two at once.
Recovering domain investor. Chronic punster.
Into the Brontës, Joni Mitchell, Alistair MacLean, new wave 🎶, Lord of the Rings, Vashti Bunyan.
Recovering domain investor. Chronic punster.
Into the Brontës, Joni Mitchell, Alistair MacLean, new wave 🎶, Lord of the Rings, Vashti Bunyan.
Don’t sour on that name.
December 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Don’t sour on that name.
Potter is an acquired taste, and I haven’t seen GoT. But I suggest watching the opening 15 minutes of the first Lord of the Rings movie (getting well past the initial brief conflict scene). If that doesn’t charm and intrigue you, you’ve lost only a little time; but you might find yourself drawn in.
December 15, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Potter is an acquired taste, and I haven’t seen GoT. But I suggest watching the opening 15 minutes of the first Lord of the Rings movie (getting well past the initial brief conflict scene). If that doesn’t charm and intrigue you, you’ve lost only a little time; but you might find yourself drawn in.
Anne Bronte’s novels are quite different; Tenant is a sprawling and sometimes dark story on the scale of Jane Eyre, while Agnes Grey is a shorter, lighter confection. But both are highly worthwhile reads, making the case that she _should_ be mentioned in the same breath as her sisters.
December 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Anne Bronte’s novels are quite different; Tenant is a sprawling and sometimes dark story on the scale of Jane Eyre, while Agnes Grey is a shorter, lighter confection. But both are highly worthwhile reads, making the case that she _should_ be mentioned in the same breath as her sisters.
I read both as a teenager in the mid to late 1970s. I remember thinking that parts of The Two Towers were boring. (I no longer think that.)
December 14, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I read both as a teenager in the mid to late 1970s. I remember thinking that parts of The Two Towers were boring. (I no longer think that.)
Oops. Writing while half-awake in the wee hours, I put Denethor (who also dies) when I meant Theoden (a good guy who was Merry’s boss).
I agree the key losses feel a bit light — just wanted to say that Tolkien did show that war has costs, especially via the litany of names in the Mundburg song.
I agree the key losses feel a bit light — just wanted to say that Tolkien did show that war has costs, especially via the litany of names in the Mundburg song.
December 14, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Oops. Writing while half-awake in the wee hours, I put Denethor (who also dies) when I meant Theoden (a good guy who was Merry’s boss).
I agree the key losses feel a bit light — just wanted to say that Tolkien did show that war has costs, especially via the litany of names in the Mundburg song.
I agree the key losses feel a bit light — just wanted to say that Tolkien did show that war has costs, especially via the litany of names in the Mundburg song.
Yeah, too few main-character deaths for a huge war. But there are losses:
*Frodo’s wound never heals and forces him into permanent exile
*Denethor, a ruler & key figure (& Merry’s boss), dies
*The song of the Mounds of Mundburg lists the deaths of many characters who were vital to that world
*Frodo’s wound never heals and forces him into permanent exile
*Denethor, a ruler & key figure (& Merry’s boss), dies
*The song of the Mounds of Mundburg lists the deaths of many characters who were vital to that world
December 14, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Yeah, too few main-character deaths for a huge war. But there are losses:
*Frodo’s wound never heals and forces him into permanent exile
*Denethor, a ruler & key figure (& Merry’s boss), dies
*The song of the Mounds of Mundburg lists the deaths of many characters who were vital to that world
*Frodo’s wound never heals and forces him into permanent exile
*Denethor, a ruler & key figure (& Merry’s boss), dies
*The song of the Mounds of Mundburg lists the deaths of many characters who were vital to that world
One minor but annoying difference between the book and movie:
Tolkien: “The Battle of Five Armies”
Jackson: “The Battle of the Five Armies”
Tolkien: “The Battle of Five Armies”
Jackson: “The Battle of the Five Armies”
December 14, 2025 at 10:15 AM
One minor but annoying difference between the book and movie:
Tolkien: “The Battle of Five Armies”
Jackson: “The Battle of the Five Armies”
Tolkien: “The Battle of Five Armies”
Jackson: “The Battle of the Five Armies”
I’m sure there’s a potential response about Middle Earth’s gnomenclature, but I’m not touching it.
November 12, 2025 at 11:02 PM
I’m sure there’s a potential response about Middle Earth’s gnomenclature, but I’m not touching it.
I’m sorry you couldn’t return to music-making. While I’ve never played an instrument (apart from a brief, disastrous fourth-grade flirtation with the viola), it looks like fun from the sidelines.
However, you and I have a creative writing habit in common. Cheers to that!
However, you and I have a creative writing habit in common. Cheers to that!
November 11, 2025 at 12:13 AM
I’m sorry you couldn’t return to music-making. While I’ve never played an instrument (apart from a brief, disastrous fourth-grade flirtation with the viola), it looks like fun from the sidelines.
However, you and I have a creative writing habit in common. Cheers to that!
However, you and I have a creative writing habit in common. Cheers to that!
Thanks! Every lawyer I know tells me I made the right choice. (And I immediately found my real calling as a middle school teacher.)
I hope you were eventually able to resume oboing!
I hope you were eventually able to resume oboing!
November 10, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Thanks! Every lawyer I know tells me I made the right choice. (And I immediately found my real calling as a middle school teacher.)
I hope you were eventually able to resume oboing!
I hope you were eventually able to resume oboing!
Feeling greatly in need of a raise,
I chose law as a job field that pays.
So I entered law school,
But it just wasn’t cool;
I lasted a week and two days.
(True story. No regrets.)
I chose law as a job field that pays.
So I entered law school,
But it just wasn’t cool;
I lasted a week and two days.
(True story. No regrets.)
November 10, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Feeling greatly in need of a raise,
I chose law as a job field that pays.
So I entered law school,
But it just wasn’t cool;
I lasted a week and two days.
(True story. No regrets.)
I chose law as a job field that pays.
So I entered law school,
But it just wasn’t cool;
I lasted a week and two days.
(True story. No regrets.)
I played at the Moorestown Chess Club in the 1970s. Glad to see that another version of it exists now!
November 7, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I played at the Moorestown Chess Club in the 1970s. Glad to see that another version of it exists now!
In case you don’t want the loud battle scenes in your background music, feel free to check out my Spotify playlist titled “Mellower LOTR”:
open.spotify.com/playlist/7c5...
open.spotify.com/playlist/7c5...
Mellower LOTR
open.spotify.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
In case you don’t want the loud battle scenes in your background music, feel free to check out my Spotify playlist titled “Mellower LOTR”:
open.spotify.com/playlist/7c5...
open.spotify.com/playlist/7c5...
LOTR contains almost everything, if you know where to look! 🙃
November 2, 2025 at 3:35 AM
LOTR contains almost everything, if you know where to look! 🙃
“For Gandalf took the horse that is called Shadowfax, the most precious of all the king’s steeds, chief of the Mearas, which only the Lord of the Mark may ride. For the sire of their race was the great horse of Eorl that knew the speech of Men.”
November 2, 2025 at 3:31 AM
“For Gandalf took the horse that is called Shadowfax, the most precious of all the king’s steeds, chief of the Mearas, which only the Lord of the Mark may ride. For the sire of their race was the great horse of Eorl that knew the speech of Men.”
Thanks. Looks like it was used in the [correct] past tense there.
October 27, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Thanks. Looks like it was used in the [correct] past tense there.
I haven’t read “As I Lay Dying” — was he using “Lay” in past or present tense?
October 27, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I haven’t read “As I Lay Dying” — was he using “Lay” in past or present tense?
The book version is so much better than the movie version, where Eomer wails in anguish after seeing Eowyn. The book shows him stricken with “cold fury”, then urging his men into battle.
October 26, 2025 at 3:03 AM
The book version is so much better than the movie version, where Eomer wails in anguish after seeing Eowyn. The book shows him stricken with “cold fury”, then urging his men into battle.
Yay, another adaptation to review for my website! janeeyre.net
October 24, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Yay, another adaptation to review for my website! janeeyre.net
The Count of Monte Cristo is legendarily epic, but hoo boy is it LONG. (Took me a couple of months.) You’ll reach the payoff quicker in Jane Eyre.
October 24, 2025 at 11:51 PM
The Count of Monte Cristo is legendarily epic, but hoo boy is it LONG. (Took me a couple of months.) You’ll reach the payoff quicker in Jane Eyre.