Author Archives: williamjcobb

“Nuclear War: A Scenario”: TV Series “Silo” Not Far-Fetched

Nuclear War: A Scenario may be the scariest book I’ve ever read. Continue reading →

Posted in "Silo" Apple TV Series, A.I. Apocalypse, Annie Jacobsen's "Nuclear War: A Scenario", Annihilation, Armageddon, Disaster movies, Horror Films, Nuclear War, Weird Science | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Mysteries of the National Parks”: A Geographical Hoot

I have to hand it to Mike Bezemek, whoever he is. (Full disclosure: I know nothing about the guy.) It’s not so much about the mysteries of national parks as more of a humorous glimpse into one man’s odd obsessions that somehow, often tangentially at best, relate to national parks. Continue reading →

Posted in Kooky books, Mike Bezemek's "Mysteries of the National Parks", The West, Wildlife, writing, Yasunari Kawabata's "The Lake", Yellowstone National Park backcountry trips, Yellowstone wildlife | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lost in the Great Utah Flood

The El Nino we’re now experiencing seems to have thrown a monkey wrench in the weather gears.  Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Human Prehistory, San Juan River kayaking, The West, Weird Weather | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Seinfeld Scoop: Elaine’s Grouchy Dad Modeled on Novelist Richard Yates

I can’t post about the genius of Richard Yates fiction without recognizing that he is immortalized in a Seinfeld episode: “The Jacket,” Season 2, Episode 3. Continue reading →

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The Death of Realism & Richard Yates’ Genius

A master of Realism, Richard Yates is like a J.D. Salinger who has grown a pair. Or the flip side of John Cheever. Continue reading →

Posted in J.D. Salinger, John Cheever, Revolutionary Road (film), Revolutionary Road (novel), Richard Yates fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Altered States of Stuffed Animals

My daughter cohabits with approximately 427 stuffed animals. If this were like the early days of The Book of Genesis and the skies were to open and deluge us with forty days and forty nights of rain, we could repopulate the Earth with our own Noah’s ark. Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Parenting, Personal Essay, Stuffed Animals | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Silo” as Tormented A.I. Captives

I’m glad to see the dangers of A.I. cropping up in pop fiction and film. I’ve used it myself, in such stories as “Camp America” (available here: see the website banner for link to the file). Continue reading →

Posted in "Silo" Apple TV Series, A.I., A.I. Apocalypse, A.S.I. (Artificial Super Intelligence), Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares' If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Neo-Medieval Charms of “Silo” 

Silo has become quite timely: While the plotlines involving the present-day Silo people are taking place roughly four centuries in the future, there’s now a plotline that appears to be set in roughly present-day contemporary times: In the series we are at war with Iran. Continue reading →

Posted in "Silo" Apple TV Series, Post-Apocalyptic Movies/Series, Prestige TV | Tagged | Leave a comment

“Nightborn” Review: Fun Finnish Horror

Something dark and sinister lurks in the Finnish forests. Continue reading →

Posted in "Nightborn" film, books/film, Cult classic films, Finnish horror films, Folktale Films, Horror Films, Horror Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

“The End of Oak Street”: Jurassic Park Meets Poltergeist

It’s like Jurassic Park meets Poltergeist. Continue reading →

Posted in "The End of Oak Street" film, books/film, Cryptozoology, Disaster movies, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment