Did you miss my dulcet tones live on the air over at KRFC 88.9 FM Monday night for Damaged Hearing? Well fret not; you can now download the podcast version of Damaged Hearing on iTunes or the show’s official Podomatic page!

Here’s what you’re in store for:

Say it loud! An interview with the filmmakers behind the controversial documentary FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN! Casey Criswell talks new HARRY POTTER! Louis admits sexual attraction to Amy Winehouse! Feat. music from Just as Good as Ezra, Imperial Rooster, Dirty Proper and more!

Louis and I get down and dirty on the Harry Potter topics with talk about casting Wil Smith in a US remake, the creepiness of single childless adults reading the Harry Potter books in the park, costumes and my love of Helena Bonham Carter!

It’s not your younger brother’s discussion of Harry Potter And the Deathly Hollows.

While you’re at it, make sure you check out Louis’s awesome blog over at http://louisfowler.blogspot.com/ It’s a pop culture exposure! Er…implosion! Er..EXPLOSION!

Avengers #14 – I’ve never been a big “Avengers” reader but I am excited for the movie! Being the nerd I am, I wanted to be able to go into the flick with some experience under my belt. This wasn’t the issue to jump in on though. With this being a “Fear Itself” issue, it was the end of a story line wrapped around a character I have zero experience with. I’ll give it a few issues and try again. Feel free to suggest a jumping in point though!

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth Monsters #1 – Elizabeth isn’t one of my favorite characters in the Hellboy universe, but this is a great setup. Hiding out in the armpit of America with the denizens you’d expect to be there, the book is steeped in mystery as to why she’s there and what she’s hiding from. Pretty exciting all around!

B.P.R.D. Casualties – This one was a dark & moody book, but it’s nice to see Abe fighting with guilt and Elizabeth taking care of him. I believe this is Guy Davis’s last run though, so sad on that aspect. Good book to go out on though!

Captain America #1 – Remember what I was saying about not being familiar with Avengers but being excited about the movie? Yah, scroll back up and read that part down here again. I have yet to see the movie, but I am excited for it! (Watch for a post on the daughter and I checking it out later this week!) This book seemed decent. There was enough to bring me back for more, there were a lot of references to the past I’m ignorant on though. Not enough to scare me off however.

Batman Detective Comics #879 – First and foremost? I love Franseco Francavilla’s take on the Joker here! Creepy! Story wise, it’s more Detective Comics. Nothing new, nothing different. They’re generally good stories though, so that’s a-okay.

Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life #4 – There’s not much to say other than I’m an utter and absolute Doctor Who fanboy. My daughter is too, so we both get to geek out! Book wise, it’s a fun story and wraps up in customary Doctor fashion, so no surprises, just adventure.

Green Lantern #67 – Once again; jumping in at the wrong point. Always a day late and a dollar short. I have no history to go on here other than I enjoyed myself at the movie. (Sure, string me up by my toes and take away my geek card, but the daughter and I had fun. Sue me.) Once again, I’m looking for a good jumping in point for Green Lantern, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Hellboy: The Fury #2 – I wasn’t blown away by the first issue of this book, but number two is shaping up nicely. There’s some rumblings and speculation on iFanboy on what this book means for the future of Hellboy, which makes me a little bit sad. You’ll have to check out their podcast for the details though as I don’t want to spoil anything!

Punisher MAX #15 – I was a huge Punisher fan back in the day and made sure to resurface a bit back during the spectacular Garth Ennis run. Seeing as I’m getting back into things, I wanted to see how the book was looking these days. It’s not…bad. It actually feels a bit nostalgic with art that is reminiscent of the good old days with some brutality that matches Garth Ennis. It may be the wrong place at the wrong time once again, but here in #15 I’m seeing the origin story again. I’ve seen the Punishers origin a million times now, I’m kind of over it.

X-Men Schism #1 – This…this was a great book! The story is setting up for a huge blow to the X-Men universe and has a great dark & foreboding tone. The back and forth banter between Wolvie and Cyclops is good too and feels like a throwback to the old days when I used to read X-Men regularly. The art feels comfortable and familiar too which is nice.

A few years back I was introduced to John Scalzi’s “Old Man’s War” via word of mouth. I believe the exchange with a close science fiction nerd friend went something like, “Dude, you have to read this book! It’s like “Star Ship Troopers” but with old people and better!” It’s no surprise to anybody that’s read this blog that I’m a sucker for anything genre that somebody suggests to me and Scalzi’s brand of science fiction was no exception. I ate his books up! I plowed through the “Old Man’s War” series but sadly, I ran out and was left without any Scalzi books to read. It wasn’t too long afterwards that he started talking about a new venture on his Whatever blog called “Fuzzy Nation”, a modern updating of the H. Beam Piper original and I set back to wait for him to finish up.

Let’s face it; I was going to read “Fuzzy Nation” regardless. I was a bonafide fan. Where the big question was that I was unfamiliar with the author outside of his “Old Man’s War” universe, so would I enjoy his new material as much as the old? The sad truth it turns out that I didn’t enjoy “Fuzzy Nation” as much as I enjoyed the previous five books. I actually enjoyed the book even more.

To start with, I’ll borrow wholesale from the official product description:

“Jack Holloway works alone, for reasons he doesn’t care to talk about. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorp’s headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporation’s headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, that’s not up for discussion.

Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth.

But there’s another wrinkle to ZaraCorp’s relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species.

Then a small furry biped–trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute–shows up at Jack’s outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp’s claim to a planet’s worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed…and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the “fuzzys” before their existence becomes more widely known.”

The true beauty of “Fuzzy Nation” lies in the fact that this book is a perfect example that science fiction isn’t all laser beams and future wars. Sometimes it’s just a great story in a fantastic setting, people with great characters. Jack Holloway is a flawed man, but one with good intentions. There is a constant mystery to the true nature of the Fuzzy’s and what secrets they hold. There is intrigue that is updated perfectly to fit in well today’s corporate screw tactics that deals with both unsavory tactics and a hearty disregard for environmental concerns. It’s a well rounded and multi-faceted story.

In a book such as this, it’s the characters that win the day and Scalzi populates the Fuzzy Nation with some solid ones. Most of the characters have at least two sides to them though there are some that are definitely one dimensional. These one dimensional characters server a purpose though, so they’re not distracting. Even our mute fuzzy’s are captivating in their own right, just to watch an alien race grow through heavy curiosity and bravery. Hell, even the main character’s dog is lovable here and even he has purpose.

“Fuzzy Nation” is a quick and easy read and that’s not to slight the book at all. It’s just a captivating adventure in new discoveries and corporate bastardy. It’s important to note here that Scalzi’s “Fuzzy Nation” is a modernized update of H. Beam Piper’s “Little Fuzzy”, written back in 1962. Scalzi, given permission by Piper’s estate kept the essentials to the plot the same but updated the story for a more modern setting. What is important here is that yes, you could consider this book a literary equivalent of a remake, but I don’t think it’s so bad. For “Fuzzy Nation”, I think Scalzi will manage to hook a new generation of readers and introduce them to a writer such as H. Beam Piper, bringing a number of curious book lovers to explore the author’s other works.

I know it did for me; I can’t wait to give the original “Little Fuzzy” a read and explore from there!

All right, let’s get this out of our system at the top; “Oh man, Uwe Boll sucks! All his movies are crap! I can’t believe you watched this!”

There, feel better? Sweet, let’s get on to talking about the movie itself and not the director.

Back in 2005, Boll brought to life the day walking ‘Dhampir’ from the same titled hit video game. The game was filled with high flying kicks and blood and guts and good old fashioned Nazi slaughter and Boll brought us much of the same. Now we’re up to the third film in the series, “The Third Reich” and not much has changed from that first film, except our busty vampire was taken over by Natassia Malthe in the second and third movies instead of Kristina Lokken who wore the red and black spandex the first time around. As you can see from the picture above, Ms. Malthe fills out the suit pretty well!

As far as the movie goes, “Bloodrayne: The Third Reich” is exactly what you’ve come to expect from an Uwe Boll movie. The film is full of action and brutality to Nazi’s, so it’s something you can get behind and root for. The plot is thin but makes sense for the time period; the Third Reich is trying to exploit the zombie infection to make super soldiers as well as an immortal fuhrer. The idea plays well with the standard occultism plot lines that generally accompany a Nazi horror flick, so all is well. Still, the story is thin and doesn’t leave much to sink your fangs into. Let’s be honest here; we’re only here to watch Natassia Malthe kick ass in a cat suit anyways, so who cares?

In the acting department, we once again get what we expect from your standard Uwe Boll flick. We get “Syfy Channel Original” performances here, so it’s a bit sub par. Malthe lacks conviction from time to time, but pulls through. Michael Pare’ on the other hand, is fun in his roll of an un-dead officer. He’s cocky and drunk on power as you’d expect. He’s also been in tons of Boll flicks and the two work well together, which shows. The fun surprise for “Third Reich” is Clint Howard as Dr. Mangler, the Nazi scientist who’s hell bent on exploiting the dhampir blood. He’s cheesy and over the top, but he’s Clint Howard! Of course he’s cheesy and over the top!

As far as blu-rays go, the disk is passable in all fronts. The transfer looks good as does the sound, but there’s not much more to the package than the movie itself. There are two short features, a behind the scenes and an interview with the film’s writer, both of which are hard to get excited about when the movie itself is lackluster. The behind the scenes featurette starts off with a “Let’s defend Uwe Boll” slant which is pretty funny in itself. Everybody loves to hate on Uwe though, so you can’t really blame them.

Ultimately, “Bloodrayne: The Third Reich” is not a great movie. We expect that though. It is watchable in a “stuck inside on a rainy day” sort of way. The movie would fit perfectly in the “Syfy Channel” stable outside of it’s two forced sex scenes which were completely unnecessary. Should you rush out and buy the disk? No. If you’re a fan of cheese and direct-to-video movies however, it’s worth a rent.

It’s time once again to join me as I meander through the stacks of DVD’s, the Digital Cable Guide, the bowels of Netflix and more!

As the title says, I am a sick sick man, or at least I was. That’s not really pertaining to my tastes mind you; my taste is pretty bad by some standard, but far from sick! No, sadly throughout the 4th of July Holiday, I found myself laid up in bed with a combo punch of summer cold and flu. When you’re stuck in bed though? Your best friend becomes the remote control!

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Justified

So I’m just going to say it; Timothy Olyphant is a badass! To be honest, I’ve been pretty burnt out on police procedural’s and all. “Justified” blew past that prejudice, smacked me upside the head and forced me to pay attention. To put it simply…this show is great. Olyphant puts in a great performance as Raylen Givens and he’s surrounded with a great cast. Nick Searcy as his boss is a standout; that guy’s always good for a laugh of some kind. Walter Goggins as the main nemesis Boyd Crowder is some great casting as well. Olyphant and Groggins play off of each other expertly and makes for some good cop drama.

Really, the writing is the highlight here for me. There are some subtly woven action tropes here, so tried and true cop show bits. It’s all written fresh however. Mixing in season long story archs are great too, making the occasional one off episodes stand out like beacons. Having finished off two seasons in as many weeks? My favorite still stands as the one off where Raylen Givens took a vacation. That was some great TV right there!

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Scream 3

I’ve always enjoyed the “Scream” franchise, though I didn’t feel it reinvented the genre as many did. When “Scream 4″ came out here recently, I had a blast watching it in the theater. When we were discussing the newest installment on the Bloody Good Horror Podcast, it dawned on me that I couldn’t remember “Scream 3″ to save my life!

Getting to re-watch the movie on a sick day, I didn’t hate it. Sure, it’s not as good as the first two or the latest movie…but I’ve seen far worse movies. By this point the setup was getting a little strained and adding a Jay and Silent Bob cameo was getting to be a bit much. It’s watchable though. Then again, I love me some Parker Posey, so I may be biased.

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Torchwood: Miracle Day

“Torchwood” has returned to us! Albeit, it’s different. Now “Torchwood” airs on the Starz network and takes place in American. It still has Captain Jack though, so I’m all right.

“Miracle Day” comes with the basic setup that nobody on earth can die…except for Captain Jack. This is a big turn of events which when previews spoke of it, it seemed like basic scifi fare. They did a great job in this first episode however of giving this undying condition some serious weight! Maybe even “Children of Earth” weight! Story wise, I thought “Miracle Day” fired on all cylinders. There were some issues with cheese however.

As you can see in the screen cap above, we get a sequence of Gwen in a firefight with her baby. Really? That seems a bit much. It felt pretty clunky seeing in action too. Captain Jack’s return to earth seemed a little anti-climatic too. At the end of “Children of Earth”, he appeared to be emotionally devastated by the actions he had to take to save Earth. Now he’s back with a simple, “come with me”? It needed some oomph. (Jack’s reunion with Gwen? That was bit more on par.) Other than that though, I thought this was a great start. I could do without the character of Esther…she was wooden and not interesting in the slightest. Bill Pullman as Oswald Danes however was FANtastic. I loved it. His little bad guy speech when telling the warden he was going to leave was on par with his cheesy president speech in “ID4″. I dug it.

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Explorers

I’m not going to say much about “Explorers” here other than the fact that this movie is classic. So classic. This is a perfect sick day movie! You’re sacked out in bed, feeling weak and a bit whiny as you were when you were a kid? This fits the mood perfectly!

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True Blood

“True Blood” is back and I’m generally excited. I enjoyed the first three seasons a lot. The season opener here however, fell flat on it’s face for me. I couldn’t get into it at all. There were numerous problems, it felt disjointed and a lot of the characters really seemed to be off base from where they left off at the end of season 3. Admittedly, that may have been the point, but it really didn’t jive with me.

Thankfully, episode to seemed to fall back into a good familiar rhythm. The show finally felt more like itself. There’s still some bits I’m not a fan of though. The biggest being the new direction for Tara, though I’ve never really liked her character at all. I’m not talking about the new lesbian angle or anything; that’s fine. The problem is…it doesn’t feel genuine at all. It feels clunky and cliche. Lafeyette and Jesus? Their relationship feels real.

All in all, my faith was restored for the most part by episode 2. Here’s hoping they stay on target!

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Arthur

I can’t speak to this as a remake of the original. I’ve seen the original, it’s been decades, so I don’t recall much. Based solely on a Russell Brand vehicle; it’s not horrible. It’s not a formulaic Judd Apatow comedy like we’ve come to expect Brand in the background of, so that’s nice. I used to find the man highly annoying but in the right setting, he’s pretty funny. Here, he fit the grossly rich layabout role pretty well. Helen Mirren is a dreamboat and was funny here and played well off of Brand’s antics. Ultimately, I got some good laughs out of this flick, though I was laughing at bits, not necessarily the whole.

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Falling Skies

This show is growing on me from week to week. It’s nothing earth-shattering but it’s good scifi pulp fiction! Noah McBeardy is a decent lead if a little too boy scout still, but a good lead all the same. I’m still drawn in by the mystery of what’s going on with the skitterer’s all the harness kids and all that, so I’ll keep watching. I’m kind of glad Iggy Pop Jr. took off though.

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Breaking Bad

Finally, “Breaking Bad”! I’ve heard about it for years, never tried it out. I received this courtesy of Netflix to follow up my “Justified” binge. I’ve only watched the first episode, but it was a great one. Looking forward to more!

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Catch up with the latest drama with the finest UK and US shows available on LOVEFiLM; watch TV programs online and don’t miss a single second of the action!

Brimstone #2 – A little western style horror is always welcome as far as I’m concerned. For “Brimstone”, the story over-rides the art, which is cool since I’m here for the story. The story seems somewhat standard so far, but creepy and intriguing, so that’s a plus.

Danger Girl and Armys of Darkness #1 – I’m a sucker for “Armys of Darkness” sadly. I always pick up these mini-series and almost always wind up disappointed or bored. I have no background knowledge of “Danger Girl” whatsoever, so I’m missing out on the connection here, so this one was most a yawner for me.

Elric: The Balance Lost #1 – I’ve not read Moorcock’s “Elric” novels before (I’m working on it Basham!) but I’m familiar with the character. There seems to be three or four realities going on here, but they did a good job of making it all curiosity grabbing though it was tough to comprehend. I’ll come back for more just to see how this all unfolds!

Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Fool Moon #2 – I’ve only read the first “Dresden” novel and I liked it a ton. I don’t know if this story is new or a graphic version of an existing book. Regardless, it’s fun! Harry Dresden is a good character and the zany supernatural stuff that he runs into fits the comic book venue well. I like how they’re playing with the werewolf tropes here too. My only beef? Harry Dresden’s a bit more beefcake that I would guessed.

I, Zombie #15 – Still loving this book! The artwork’s fun and the story seems…kitschy. A bit of a throw back you might say. I’m enjoying it, just need to make sure I stay on it a little more regularly, I’ve been missing issues here and there.

Sweet Tooth #23 – Pardon me as I repeat myself…Still loving this book! This one’s quirky with a nice dark air too it. I’ve really got no guess as to what penultimate end they’re driving to here, which is great. This is one book I truly read every month just to find out what happens!

Uncanny X-Men #538-540 – I’ve been behind on this title, so I grabbed the three most recent. This book has been reinvented so many times, it’s hard to make any judgement historically. I still have fun with it though. Sadly, I jumped back in at the finish of one arch, read through a one off story, then found myself in the “Fear Itself” tie in, so I can’t form a real judgement on it all. It still feels like good old X-Men though. For true enjoyment though, I think I’m staying with “Uncanny X-Force” being my favorite X-Title for the time being.

X-Men #14 – Again, a blind dive into the X-Men pool. I haven’t been reading any X-Titles except for Uncanny X-Force for awhile, but “X-Men First Class” got me hankering for some more mutants. I know that each X-title has their own theme so to speak, I have no idea what plain old X-Men’s is though. This almost felt like a re-hash of an older story line, but maybe that’s the point.

MAD Magazine #510 – This one was a just for fun! I (and my dad) used to read MAD religiously back in the day, so I had to see what was what! The book’s changed a lot, as to be expected as they change talent over the years. It felt good though! Same cornball jokes, same hokey satires. Fun times, fun times. I’ll definitely have to see what the daughter thinks of this stuff!

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So here I go, trying to get back into a regular comics regimen once again! Thankfully, I”ll be bringing the daughter along for the ride! I’m totally lost on the x-titles and which ones are good, bad or ugly, so I’m looking for suggestions on what x-books I should be on the look out for! On top of that, I’m open for comic book suggestions in general! Have a favorite title? Leave a note in the comments!

I can be an obsessive guy when I put my mind to it. If I decide there is something I need, gadgets wise or others, I tend to ponder over my purchase for months. One I first received my Kindle back in December, I found a nice Targus case for it that worked quite well. Once the daughter received her Kindle for her birthday however, I decided it was more important for her to have protection on her device than myself, so I give it up. Until recently…I was fine rolling without a case.

These days, I find myself traveling with the Kindle daily, so it was time to rethink the case situation. After using the device for a good 7 months, I had a good feel for what I liked and didn’t like. Sure, it sounds picky but when cases cost a minimum of $20, you have to make sure you get what you want, right? For me, I enjoyed using the reader with no add-ons. It’s slim line, it’s lite and it fits pretty perfectly in its barebones form for reading in bed. My biggest factor in a new case was something that wouldn’t be a permanent residence, so that took us into the ‘sleeve’ territory. As for sleeves, there are tons of options out there, but they tend to be really expensive for a lot of un-needed features and foo-foo decorations. (Foo-foo’s fine, just not in my interests!)

Wandering through Wal-Mart of all places, I eventually stumbled into what turned out to be a perfect choice in Kindle cases for myself. The Griffin Elan Sleeve was pretty basic, it looked tough and seemed to be a good fit. Seeing that any sleeves I looked at online started at around $30, the $19.99 price tage on the sleeve was nice too. Now that I’ve had it for a week or two, it looks to be a good choice. The Kindle 3 fits in perfectly with a little space on either side, and nothing giving un-needed pressure on the screen. The case is lined with a soft micro fiber material of some sort works well for keeping scratches at bay. For carrying back and forth to work, it feels like a great case to protect my PRECIOUSSSSSS as I commute back and forth. (And yes, I read at lunch, so it needs to go back and forth!)

While my obsessive traits generally turn into a solid purchase at a decent price by the time I’m done…I just wish I could do away with the two weeks of reading about any given product on hundreds of websites!

Kids, awaiting fireworks. Kind of says ‘summer’ doesn’t it?

Speaking of saying ‘summer’…

Diet be damned, this chili dog had to be eaten.

Oh Yes, this happened.

I sadly had to miss “Insidious” when it was theaters, back when it was covered on the Bloody Good Horror Podcast. I heard nothing but rave reviews from the gang so I was pretty bummed to have missed out. Thankfully, the movie is coming out on Blu Ray here on July 12th and I was able to get my hands on a review copy to share with you folks!

I could go on for paragraphs expounding on the movie itself but I would be repeating my peers such as Louis Fowler over at BGH; “Insidious” is a great flick! As desensitized as I am to horror movies these days, I don’t get scared much when I go to the movies. Sure, jump scares work on me still but who doesn’t jump when the film makers assault you with a cacophony of loud noise? James Wan managed to craft a truly creepy flick with some genuine scares. Sure, he uses the loud jump scares now and then, but that’s okay. He has a whole host of subtle tactics that make the movie pretty intense throughout! I’ve heard complaints that the movie grew weaker in the second half, but I didn’t have any such problems. Just when I thought the movie may be crossing over to eye-rolling territory…I find myself stuck on the edge of my seat for the last thirty minutes of the movie!

This little review isn’t just about the movie though…this is a look at the Blu Ray package itself. To be frank; “Insidious” is a perfect movie for the format. Wan uses many deep vivid colors that translate well to high definition, so the movie is truly enjoyable watch. Where the magic happens on this disc though is the surround sound! This movie was made for full blown 5.1 DTS Super Mega Awesome surround…and this Blu Ray delivers it. Many of the scares in “Insidious” rely on sound to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, and this disc does just that.

The extra features on this disc are fairly light unfortunately. There’s only three main extras. I can’t say exactly what more I’d want, just saying there’s not a lot there. What is on the disk though is pretty enjoyable. The first video features James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell discussing their theories behind the cast of spirits show in the movie. It’s a fun bit of info. Really, all three of the extra videos on disc contain Wan and Whannell, with the other two features being their theories behind the horror they used in writing the film and the other being your classic behind the scenes featurette.

Right now, you can pre-order the “Insidious” Blu Ray over at Amazon for for $19.99 which I would say is a fair price. The movie is a great fit for the format and really, it’s a flick you need for your collection for sure!

I’ve blathered on about my love of pen’s here before, so me getting excited over a new ink pen is not a big surprise. I do a lot of writing long hand; journal work, notes, rough drafts, etc. etc.

Today, I received a brand spanking new Limited Edition One of Kind Hand Made C. Lewis Writing utensil!

That is a fancy way of saying my long time cohort Chris has taken to hand turning and building pens from wood, and he made me this spiffy one! It writes pretty great and I can guarantee ya, you won’t find another one like it out there! So I can go and gloat and feel all special and stuff over it and continue procrastinating on my writing.