I Know I Promised True Detective, BUT DID YOU SEE THE WALKING DEAD FINALE?!

HOLY DECAYING ZOMBIES DID YOU SEE THAT?! Okay. Stop reading now if you haven't seen it. Seriously. You'll just be disappointed in yourself, because this must be seen to be believed. I mean it. You won't enjoy it nearly enough if you keep reading. Are you still here? Then I will assume that you saw the finale and hereby acknowledge no responsibility for spoiling it for you.

There were two hugely shocking moments, some self discovery, and lastly a lot of questions for next season. The first thing that evoked a, "OMG! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" occurred during an inevitable altercation between Rick, Michonne, and Carl with Darryl's new gang. Think back, and you'll remember that Rick killed one of their men in the house when he was recuperating. Well, vengeance was the goal when Joe and his happy band of predators happened upon a still-slightly-weak Rick and his makeshift family.

While Joe appeared to be the stronger and better armed of the two, he wasn't expecting Rick to channel his inner vampire. That's right. Rick turned the tables AND BIT JOE IN THE NECK AND SEVERED HIS JUGULAR! Yep. He actually spit a piece of Joe out when he was done. After that little bizarre altercation, Rick went on to assist Michonne, Darryl, and Carl in killing the rest of the team. Rick took on the nasty guy who had been threatening Carl with vaguely nasty implied, possibly sexual, threats. Rick used a knife this time and stabbed the gang banger repeatedly - and by repeatedly I mean gruesome stabbing sounds in excess of everyone's tolerance - scaring Carl in the process.

He followed this bloodbath by declaring that Darryl is his brother. Touching, no? Especially with blood covering the entire lower half of his face. All of that leads to Michonne having a philosophical (sort of) discussion with Carl about how we all have a little monster in us.

The second big event was Rick and his group's arrival at Terminus. We had seen Glenn and Maggie's crew walk through the front door to a welcome wagon offering barbecue. Rick led them through the back door, surprising the Terminus crew in the process of making new Welcome signs to lure  lead people to Terminus. They received the same welcome and offer of a plate... but Rick astutely observed that one of their people had Glenn's pocketwatch (given to him by Hershel), so he pulled his gun. Further observation revealed the armor Maggie had been wearing and various other items that had belonged to the recently arrived group. Predictably, a shootout followed.

The shootout was one sided, because the Terminus peeps were really just steering the group into a trap. The chase went past a few clues about the technically incorrect slogan that "those who arrive survive". It looks very much like a cult dedicated to their own survival... by eating their visitors. Yes, cannibals. 

Rick and his gang end up in a train car with Glenn's group. They are likely future menu items at the Terminus Cafe.

So, next season begins with a bunch of OUR survivors trapped in a train car waiting to be eaten by a cult of cannibals. But where are Carol, Tyree, and Judith? Who took Beth and where is she? How will Rick and Darryl save the rest from the cannibal cult? Will anyone get - or has anyone already been - eaten by humans? Why does it seem kind of weird that everyone wants to eat someone - zombies AND humans? Am I starting to overthink this?

What did you think? Disgusting? Awesome? Amazing? Gross? Tell me what you think.

True Detective: The Most Amazing Show You Struggled to Follow

Hold that thought. Post coming tomorrow... I just wanted to hold this spot...

New Blog Focus, New Name, New Content

Rather than start another blog, I remembered this was here and decided to change direction. I love pop culture and have all kinds of opinions and I thought I would throw them here and see if anything sticks.

If you liked reading about writing and all that jazz, go to my website. There's actually two blogs there: one for writing and one for book reviews.

If you liked reading about my crazy life, you're out of luck at the moment. Just living it takes enough time. Writing about it might push me over the verge...

So, let's talk. Movies, television, music, celebrity antics, books, magazines, and whatever comes to mind. Join me on the verge. Let's talk.

My Life is a Sitcom or a Soap Opera... or Both

I actually had a friend tell me that I should have a podcast about my life because ... well, I'm not sure there was a reason, but she was laughing like a maniac at the time. I think I had told her of my latest adventures including apparently removing a chunk of cornea with my contact lens, my children using my bra as a weapon, and dealing with a client who just can't make up his mind. I told her that my life is normal. She disagreed.

For now, I'll stick to blogging, I told her, because I can't even keep up with that, so adding a podcast would make me feel guilty about ignoring my blogs because when I'm writing blog posts I feel guilty about not doing laundry and that much guilt will require more meds and therapy than my insurance will cover.

In other words. I'm still here.

What Ever Happened to Village Gate Square? (Rochester, NY)

I've sent this to the local paper, but I doubt they will publish it. I will share it with you here, just in case, because the story should be told.

Today I took my son to Village Gate Square. You know Village Gate. The place where you say to your friends, "I'm going to Village Gate and they say, "Hey! Can we come with?"

We were looking forward to checking out Bop Shop Records, Ricky's Place, Far Out Vintage, and Comics, Etc. Three out of four were gone. In their places were construction cones and wilted caution tape. Active construction appeared to be going on with questionable safety.

When we wandered into Comics, Etc., a man in a white shirt appeared to be having a heated discussion with the men behind the counter. He was saying something about rent. I concluded that he was someone who might know what was going on, so when their conversation paused, I said, "Excuse me. What happened to Village Gate?"

He turned to me and smiled condescendingly. He told me that they were updating and would have many fine restaurants soon. He asked me who I was and I responded that I was a consumer who came to Village Gate specifically to find those shops that sold items not found anywhere else. It was home to artistic, creative, vintage, unique shops. Where had they gone? He smiled that smile again and spoke to me as if to a child, explaining that he needed his rent.  It occurred to me that he must be getting his rent if he could afford the major construction going on. He then turned to the men behind the counter and said that I must be a friend of theirs.

I could tolerate the condescension, but to say that I was expressing my opinion as a ruse? I got angry. Obviously, the men in the store denied it because I don’t know any of them. He turned to me again as I tried to explain why Village Gate had character and how it was a shame for it to be lost. He asked me if he should get rent. I felt an equally absurd question was in order so I asked him, “Are you an asshole?” To which he turned and stormed away saying he didn’t need to be insulted, which in Management language means, “Yes.” Was I wrong in calling him a name? Yes. I'm sorry I did it. But I wanted answers and was asking sincerely as a consumer and was getting blown off. Management should at least listen to what consumers are saying and be polite and informative. Asking if he should get paid rent is NOT a reasonable response.

Village Gate was home to the independent stores where you could find the unique and wonderfully eccentric – an extension of the artistic community. Now it will be aluminum and glass. How very sad.  

Bloggers Who Hurt

A friend of mine called my attention to a blog post that was incredibly hurtful to a certain part of the population. I refuse to give this blogger any kind of inadvertent promotion by telling you the subject or anything else about it. I just want to share something with MY readers.

Writing a blog post that is inflammatory, simply to get a rise out of people and draw attention to your blog is irresponsible and quite frankly, just plain mean. To then take the well-thought out responses of those who are offended and continue to debase people is inexcusable. 

Yes, we all have freedom of speech. Some of us use this power for good. Some of us use it to make others feel bad. Some use it for attention via stepping all over other people's feelings. I have some very wise advise to offer that Wil Wheaton lives by:

Don't be a dick.

Interview with Gene Doucette

Go check out my interview with Gene Doucette on the day of his new book release: Hellenic Immortal.