Category: Uncategorized

Saskatchewan: Still on Fire

The wildfires that are raging throughout Western Canada haven’t really let up.  In fact, a little bit north of where I am they’re even worse as more and more people are being evacuated, particularly from the remote reserves.  It’s not pretty but I don’t really expect the fires to come down this far south.  We’re pretty dry down here but at the same time we’ve been getting a bit of rain here and there so we should be fine.  The only real downside is the continuing smoke.  Today it was so bad you can barely see more than a couple hundred yards when you can normally see almost a kilometre in the distance because we’re pretty flat around here.

My boss and I were commiserating as fellow asthmatics about the air quality.  A customer overheard us and said, “Yeah that must be tough.  How do you deal with it?”

“Take more drugs.”  We said this at pretty much the same time so you know how bad it’s been.

Hopefully Saskatchewan gets a bit of a respite and all those firefighters they’ve called in are able to beat the fires back before they do any further damage.  It’s funny in a way because the fires have been raging since for a couple of weeks but the media hadn’t been able to muster the requisite number of f**ks in order to care until the fires affected the air quality in Saskatoon and Regina.  Yep, we’re not all that far north of CTV and CBC stations (half a day’s drive) but they really can’t be bothered to care until it personally affects them and/or they can no longer ignore the story because other people are pointing out that half the province is currently on fire.

Journalism at its finest.

Blast From the Past: Part One

Lots of other blogs with vast archives do this so I figured I might as well try it out too.  What is a ‘blast from the past’ here on The Mad Reviewer?  Well, for our purposes it will be me plugging some of my older posts way back from 2012 and 2013 (possibly even 2014) that my newer subscribers may have missed.  Some of them are not the best written but I’ve definitely improved over time and my older posts are definitely a reflection of my blogging inexperience.  They’re still pretty cool, though, if I do say so myself.

So here are some random articles over the years that I’ve particularly liked or had fun writing:

1.  Why are Zombies so Scary?  (March 2012)

Here in this post I examine the reasons why zombies used to terrify me and why they continue to terrify other people, even with the popularity of shows like The Walking Dead.  Read the comment section to discover how zombies are like cows as well.

2.  What Makes a Character Memorable?  (March 2012)

What makes a character memorable?  Why is it that some characters stick out to us and we remember them years later whereas some characters you forget instantly after finishing a book?

3.  Accuracy in Historical Fiction (April 2012)

My views surrounding accuracy in historical fiction have slightly changed since this post but the essence of it is true: most history is exciting enough that it doesn’t need to be changed by authors.

4.  A Plea for Diversity in Fantasy (April 2012)

No, this isn’t about racial and other diversity (I’ve addressed that in other posts) but instead this was a desperate plea for some unique plots in fantasy, YA fantasy in particular.  I think part of my problem at the time was the fact it was the height of Twilight fever and I desperately needed a form of brain bleach to displace all the Team Edward vs. Team Jacob nonsense.

5.  Should Reviewers Give Bad Reviews?  (July 2012)

Yep, this controversy has raged for years and will continue to go on long after this generation of bloggers quits.  Should reviewers give bad reviews or simply not post bad reviews?  I think by now you guys know what side I’m on.

The Best and Worst of June 2015

This month was generally okay for me on the personal front.  I didn’t get much posting done and for that I have to apologize but even with my surgery things should be a bit more regular in terms of post times and dates.  Still, my site stats were okay.  I received a total of 5,224 views with 3,607 of those being unique views.  That’s certainly not my best ever but it’s not my worst ever.  July should be a little better overall.

So what were my best posts this month?

1. Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal

2. How to Read 100 Pages in an Hour

3. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome

4. The Mad Reviewer is Open to Review Requests (Temporarily)

5. Othello by William Shakespeare

None of these are really new or surprising aside from my review of Othello.  It wasn’t particularly in-depth or insightful but I guess that since Othello is a common grade 12 English play here in Canada I got some of the traffic from students.  Overall it didn’t get that many views but it certainly did better than quite a few of my other more popular posts.

So what were the worst posts this month?

1. Aegis Rising by S. S. Segran

2. The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

3. If You Love the Iron Fey…

4. September Sky by John Heldt

5. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Most of these are books that aren’t exactly popular or are really dated posts like the Iron Fey one about the release of some short stories tying in to the main series.  The only really disappointing one on this list is John Heldt’s book September Sky, which is an unconventional time travel romance that I absolutely loved.  But, like most ‘worst’ posts one month, it will likely be off the list next month.

Well, that pretty much sums up my June.  How was yours?

“Mad Sex” and Other Bizarre Search Terms

Yes, folks, it’s time for another weird search terms round up.   I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

{searchterms}mad sex

conn ighulden gods of.war seqiwl

anne rice man pony sex scene

was the third servil war, good or bad?

motives behind each of the two sides of the third servile war

game of thrones babes

which episode karl droga game of throne sex scene

karl tanner rape fiction

arc for review netgalley ethical

was marie antoinette mad

ignorance is good

spartacus was the bad guy third servile war

rebuttal to what are girls good for

feelings of a girl aftter watching game of thrones

 

Yep, there are some pretty weird ones here.  Which is your favourite?  And if you’re a blogger, have you gotten any particularly weird or funny search terms lately?